California

The California Department of Finance reported this week that revenue continues to flow into the general fund at a weaker-than-projected pace.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has provided $167 million in letters of credit for non-housing tax-exempt bonds since legislation authorized the transactions last year.

Appearing before the California Assembly Budget Committee, Treasurer Bill Lockyer this week restated warnings he has issued about the state's rising debt-service costs.

California has named global real estate services company CB Richard Ellis to market the 11 state office buildings it plans to sell to investors.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has chosen to replace California's outgoing finance director Michael Genest with one of his chief deputies, Ana Matosantos. The ­governor made the appointment Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums and civic boosters publicly unveiled three stadium sites they’ve been pitching to Major League Baseball in an attempt to keep the Oakland Athletics in California’s eighth-largest city.

SAN FRANCISCO — Moody’s Investors Service issued a three-notch downgrade to the credit enhancement programs of both the California Public Employees Retirement System and California State Teachers Retirement System.

SAN FRANCISCO — A special ­election Tuesday may hasten the end of Valley Health System’s two-year-old Chapter 9 bankruptcy case and lead to the ­redemption of the Southern California public hospital district’s outstanding tax-exempt bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Diego City Council closed a projected $179 million budget deficit with layoffs of city employees and other measures.

SAN FRANCISCO — California education officials are planning to seek legislation to address legal concerns over the way the state divvied up its allocation for the qualified school construction bond program.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Santa Clara City Council yesterday approved an environmental impact report for a new $937 million football stadium for the San Francisco 49ers, clearing the way for a ballot measure on the partially bond-financed project.

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of California taxpayer advocates is aiming to turn a bad run of news for public retirement plans into a pension reform movement in the nation’s biggest state.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders last week proposed an 18-month budget that would eliminate a projected $179 million deficit in California’s second-biggest city.

SAN FRANCISCO — California’s gaping budget gap is likely to lead to a legislative impasse that could easily shut the state government down next summer, Treasurer Bill Lockyer said this week.

SAN FRANCISCO – Citing a weak economy, diminished reserves, and the possibility of sizable future budget deficits, Fitch Ratings Tuesday afternoon downgraded Los Angeles general obligation bonds to AA-minus from AA. The city’s outlook remains negative.

SAN FRANCISCO — Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the San Pablo Redevelopment Agency’s Tenth Township Project Area tax-allocation bonds to Baa2 from Baa1, citing a sharp decline in property tax revenue and high exposure to variable-rate debt.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed proposed a freeze in redevelopment spending in California’s third-largest city to prepare for a $75 million state raid on the local budget.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California State Public Works Board abruptly removed more than half a billion dollars from last week’s lease-revenue bond sale after two state lawmakers issued a last-minute letter warning of legal challenges to a project that was slated to receive bond funding.

SAN FRANCISCO — Even as the market for qualified school construction bonds is taking off, many California school districts appear to be stuck on the sideline because of questions over the way the state allocated QSCB authority to the districts.

Declining property values were a key factor in a two-notch downgrade Moody’s Investors Service dealt Tuesday to the Ripon Redevelopment Agency.