California

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District in California remains on track to debut in the bond market this spring, but the limits of the sales tax it relies on for funding will limit the scope of the rail transit line it plans to build, its board of directors learned here last week at a workshop.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The California Legislature adopted a budget bill for fiscal 2012 last week, though the toughest decisions required by that plan were deferred until this week.

San Francisco’s unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities have ballooned to around $6 billion, according to a report by a Stanford academic and former California assemblyman.

Policy makers at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System voted this week to disregard the advice of their chief actuary and keep the retirement system’s assumed annual rate of investment return at 7.75%.

California Controller John Chiang Monday released an actuarial report saying the state faces a $59.9 billion bill to pay for health care and dental benefits for state retirees over the next 30 years.

SAN FRANCISCO — An independent auditor says Victorville is nearing insolvency.The California city’s auditor, Mayer Hoffman McCann PC, noted the shuffling of tens of millions of dollars of bond proceeds between different agencies without proper approval.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — With the fate of California redevelopment agencies still unknown, the agencies are rushing deals to market at an accelerated pace — and appear to be paying a steep price for it.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s attorney general appears to have thrown a monkey wrench into school districts’ common practice of paying for issuance costs using original issue premium.

The California Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of an appellate ruling requiring developers of many community facilities districts to pay so-called prevailing wages for all public improvements, whether or not they are financed with bonds.

Los Angeles voters Tuesday approved a ballot measure to create a lower level of benefits for newly hired police officers and firefighters.

The California Senate on Monday confirmed Ana Matosantos as director of the Department of Finance.

Voters in the beleaguered Southern California city of Bell tossed out their entire City Council during a recall election Tuesday.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Sierra Kings Health Care District’s general obligation bonds to Baa3 from Ba2 after a federal judge ruled that GO debt service cannot be interrupted by the district’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.

SAN FRANCISCO — The city of Vallejo, Calif., must disclose more information about the role of its mayor and bankruptcy law firm in past bond deals due to accusations of conflicts of interest, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

SACRAMENTO — A federal bankruptcy judge said he will set a date in June for the final showdown with creditors on Vallejo, Calif.’s plan to try and rid itself of debt.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s redevelopment agencies have failed to provide a coherent explanation for their existence, according to state Controller John Chiang.

SAN FRANCISCO — Vallejo retirees have fired another salvo in a battle for scarce funds in the California city’s proposed plan to exit bankruptcy, including conflict of interest accusations against the city’s mayor and law firm.

SAN FRANCISCO — Crushed during the recession, California’s real estate market so far has been spared from a tide of defaults on land-secured bonds — so far.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — In what has become something of an annual Sacramento ritual, California Controller John Chiang released a letter to lawmakers and the governor warning of the negative consequences of failing to enact a budget that is both on time and balanced.

Vallejo has been mired in a messy, prolonged and expensive bankruptcy proceeding since May 2008. But if the California city is “the poster boy of a new era,” as some have suggested, that doesn’t look too bad for bondholders.