Far West

California taxpayers may see the municipal pension contributions they fund for the California Public Employees' Retirement System rise as much as 50%.

Speakers at an Urban Land Institute event, described the next phase of California's redevelopment agency dissolution during which properties owned by the successor agencies will be sold.

Despite economic growth, the majority of public finance sectors still face a negative outlook for the remainder of 2013, according to a new Moody's Investors Service report.

A lawsuit by Caldwell Flores Winters, Inc. for breach of contract and the resulting counter-complaint by small, rural Willits United School District, Calif. spotlights controversial practices critics see in California school district bond sales.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a firm $37,500 for trade and books and records violations, and a broker $5,000, giving him a four-month suspension, for telling a customer he redeemed bonds rather than sold them without the customer's permission.

The Internal Revenue Service is requesting public comment on existing rules governing when tax-exempt bond proceeds used for reimbursement of expenditures.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has published an introductory guide to its Electronic Municipal Market Access, or EMMA, website for state and local issuers of municipal bonds.

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority approved on Tuesday the sale of $1.9 billion of bonds to help Kaiser Foundation build six new hospitals, expand a current one, and construct a specialty medical office.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies and the California Association for Local Economic Development said in a statement Thursday the goal of the new group will be to bring new resources, tools and partners to help grow local economic development in the state.

Despite his entitlement reform proposals intended to serve as a bargaining chip with Republicans, President Obama's 2014 budget is dead on arrival primarily due to a provision to raise $580 billion in new tax revenues as made clear during two key congressional hearings Thursday.