Far West

With tobacco consumption continuing to decline, Fitch Ratings last week downgraded $9 billion of tobacco bonds issued by Ohio and California after the two states were forced to draw on reserves to make their Dec. 1 payments.

The Internal Revenue Service has told the Nebraska Public Power District that $10 million of the $50.36 million of Build America Bonds it issued in June 2009 may not qualify for the 35% interest subsidy it receives from the Treasury Department because of a dispute over the issue price of the bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO – State officials have begun an early effort to find ways for California, Washington and Oregon to save money by cooperating on financing future infrastructure projects pegged in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

LOS ANGELES — Riverside County, Calif.'s financial advisor doesn't expect the county's recent one-notch downgrade from Moody's Investors Service to affect its ability to sell $35.5 million in lease revenue bonds Feb. 16.

San Diego officials are plowing ahead with plans to expand the city's convention center in a project that will require more than half a billion dollars of bonds.

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said in a report released Wednesday that projected general fund and lottery revenues have been lowered by $35.1 million from the December forecast.

The California Housing Finance Agency has revised a policy that resulted in it foreclosing on homeowners who were current on payments but had been renting out homes financed through the agency. The policy went into effect Monday.

The deficit for Los Angeles Unified School District has grown to $557 million and the district faces layoffs of up to 7,500 employees if it doesn’t receive money from three funding sources, officials said.

Ontario, Calif., officials now say that the $50 million payment they offered to Los Angeles for LA/Ontario International Airport was only part of a $250 million package the city offered to transfer title and operations of its airport, according to published reports.

California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office Monday pointed out concerns it had with Gov. Jerry Brown’s backup budget plan should his tax referendum fail this November.