Far West

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $51 million of auction-rate securities that were issued in a conduit deal in 2005 by the Orange County, Fla., Health Facilities Authority to current-refund bonds and finance a hospital project.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia expects to issue $81.7 million of federal highway grant anticipation revenue bonds on Wednesday in a deal that was delayed from December at an additional cost to the district of about $2 million.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is exploring state public pension laws to see if there are common types of disclosures they could encourage issuers to submit to its Electronic Municipal Market Access site, MSRB officials told reporters Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO — Union workers are poised to fight a bankruptcy-exit proposal from Vallejo that has the California city paying them as little as 10 cents on the dollar.

WASHINGTON — Amid widespread concern about the viability of public sector pension plans, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is weighing whether it should help issuers disclose more about their pension plans and liabilities.

As part of an ongoing initiative to examine developer-driven deals, the Internal Revenue Service is auditing $48.47 million of defaulted bonds issued by the Stoneybrook South Community Development District in Florida in 2007 for infrastructure improvements.

SAN FRANCISCO — Victorville is in the hot seat.The city in Southern California’s high desert is facing a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into bond sales, a grand jury investigation into its finances, and inquiries from neighboring communities about its curious bond-financing practices.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Most Californians agree with Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to hold a special election soon to decide if temporary state tax increases should be extended, according to a poll released this week.

WASHINGTON — Though President Obama called for more investment in infrastructure and high-speed rail as well as an end to tax cuts for the wealthy, there was little that was new or politically doable in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, municipal market participants and analysts said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Vallejo, Calif., has reached a tentative agreement with Union Bank that pays the bankrupt city’s largest creditor roughly 60 cents on the dollar.