Far West

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s seemingly intractable budget and cash-flow problems have hit school districts hard, forcing many to enter into increasingly complex arrangements to keep cash flowing, experts said.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress need to suspend their political squeamishness on tax increases and allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire in 2012 if they are serious about federal deficit reform, a research group reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $38.77 million of defaulted special assessment bonds that were sold in 2005 by the Aberdeen Community Development District in Florida to finance infrastructure for a residential community.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Nevada received its second downgrade of the month Thursday when Moody’s Investors Service dropped its general obligation bonds to Aa2 from Aa1.

Hawaii’s Council on Revenues has scheduled an emergency meeting for Tuesday in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

City leaders in Santa Clara will give $4 million of redevelopment funds to the San Francisco 49ers football team to get a head start on fixing up a new stadium site.

San Francisco voters will get another chance to weigh in on reforming the city’s pension and retiree medical benefit costs.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s muni enforcement priorities include staying on top of undisclosed pension liabilities, faulty bond valuation and pricing, and undisclosed potential tax ­violations that could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of bonds, the SEC’s top cop said Wednesday.

An independent financial adviser has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that an underwriter recently told a prospective bond issuer that it provided services similar to a financial adviser.

The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that an investor-owned utility can demolish bond-financed pollution control facilities without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of the bonds or its interest deductions related to the debt.