Far West

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami officials have been told that civil charges may be brought against the city for failing to disclose serious budget problems in recent bond offerings.

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., will introduce a three-month extension of temporary law reauthorizing highway and transit programs — the ninth such extension — before the end of the month.

Rep. Bob Gibbs has drafted legislation that would create a TIFIA-type program to lower the cost of capital for water utilities, but state and local officials testifying at a hearing on Wednesday worried that it might eventually be used to replace, rather than supplement, state revolving loan funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved a proposal by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to make yields for interdealer trades available on EMMA beginning April 30.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Steve LaTourette and Marcia Fudge of Ohio have introduced a bill that would provide $4 billion for states and land banks to issue newly-created 30-year tax credit demolition bonds to demolish vacant, foreclosed and abandoned homes across the country to prevent "a tsunami of blight."

The Internal Revenue Service unveiled a voluntary closing agreement program for certain tax-exempt student loan bond issuers, giving them until July 31 to apply for relief under the settlement program.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday released the final environmental impact report for the nine-mile Westside Subway extension project estimated to cost between $5.6 billion and $6.2 billion.

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority sold $440.6 million of tax-exempt bonds, raising $177.4 million for infrastructure improvements and saving $17.8 million by refunding bonds issued in 2003, the authority said Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service recently closed an audit of $228.1 million of Series 2007A green bonds issued by the Syracuse Industrial Development Authority in New York without changing the tax-exempt status of the bonds.

State tax revenue growth weakened in the fourth quarter of 2011 due to weak economic conditions as well as the expiration of temporary tax increases and the stimulus provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Rockefeller Institute said in a report.