Far West

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The city of Bell, Calif., received a singular piece of good news Monday as one of its bond ratings rose amid the tempest over the huge salaries paid to some of its public servants.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is ­opposed to a gasoline tax increase or mileage fee to generate revenue for the next multi-year transportation bill, but would support a number of public and private options ­including bond-related financing, Transportation Secretary Ray ­LaHood said Friday.

WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Committee chairman Sander Levin plans next week to unveil new jobs legislation that would extend Build America Bonds and other muni bond initiatives that are set to expire at the end of the year.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Officials in Modoc County, Calif., scrambled to avoid insolvency last week after years of lax accounting put the government in a $12.5 million financial hole.

It will take five years to turn the new federal financial reform law into rules and regulation, an industry expert from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said last week.

WASHINGTON — At the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is moving forward with rule changes for priority of orders in primary offerings. The changes are more in line with the original proposal the MSRB floated late last year rather than a pared-down version it agreed to in April.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Assessed property values in California are likely to decline for the second year running, according to a Bond Buyer review of data from the state’s larger counties.

WASHINGTON — The House ethics committee’s investigative panel is alleging that former Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has violated ethics rules.

OAKLAND, Calif. — It’s not dead yet.

WASHINGTON — Congress only has a very small window of time early next year to approve a multi-year transportation bill or it will risk losing the opportunity to do so for another two years, congressional aides said at a meeting here yesterday.