Infrastructure

The Phoenix City Council has raised the customer facility charge for car rentals at Sky Harbor International Airport to $6 per day from $4.50 to generate a debt service reserve fund of $21 million for the bond-financed facility.

WASHINGTON - KBC Bank NV of Belgium and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reached an agreement in federal court here on Friday to dissolve a leaseback deal entered in 2002, a move that could set a precedent for more than 25 transit agencies across the country with similar deals.

Three cities appealed on Friday to the Treasury Department for assistance under its $700 billion financial rescue plan authority, while airports continued their push for federal legislative help to make private-activity bonds more accessible for financing projects.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Friday approved toll hikes that will generate nearly $100 million of additional revenue for the authority to help meet operating needs and rising debt service costs.

There's no denying the importance of infrastructure. But the traditional infrastructure model has become problematic. The growing need to repair or replace aging infrastructure in transportation, utilities, telecommunications, and other sectors has soared to record levels in recent years. At the same time, the cost of building materials is skyrocketing, and local, state, and federal governments are faced with declining tax revenues and higher borrowing costs.

DALLAS - Kansas will not award approximately $200 million of anticipated highway construction contracts over the next two months due to concerns that actual and expected declines in state and federal funding impair its ability complete the work.

SAN FRANCISCO - Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski this week proposed billions of dollars in transportation spending to stimulate the economy and rebuild the state's transportation infrastructure.

SAN FRANCISCO - This month, California voters issued a mandate for a high-speed passenger train system linking the southern part of the state with the San Francisco region.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and a Belgian bank failed to reach an agreement yesterday that would unwind a leaseback deal in exchange for a $17 million payment from the transit agency, but the parties will return to federal court for a third day this morning to continue negotiations.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. District Court judge yesterday pressed KBC Bank NV of Belgium to accept a settlement to unwind a leaseback arrangement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in exchange for a $17 million payment from a trust account kept by the transit agency for lease payments on the deal.