Colorado

DALLAS — Facing the risk that voters might curtail state and local debt issuance in two months, Colorado issuers are sizing up the cost of three November ballot issues and hastening bond deals before the measures have a chance to pass.

DALLAS — Colorado Springs is preparing to sell $477 million of utility system revenue bonds that will include refunding and new money for a 62-mile water pipeline called the Southern Delivery System.

DALLAS — Denver Public Schools officials are defending a 2008 derivatives deal amid accusations that the district took unnecessary risks that cost millions of dollars and harmed its ability to hire teachers.

DALLAS — Volume of issuance in the Southwest fell 4.9% in the first half of the year, despite support from the Build America Bond program and the return of the Permanent School Fund bond guarantee in Texas.

DALLAS — After years of planning, Colorado’s Regional Transportation District is preparing to issue $404 million of tax-exempt private-activity bonds Wednesday to finance a 23-mile commuter line linking Denver International Airport to a new downtown transit hub at Union Station.

DALLAS — Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service expect to assign their lowest investment-grade rating to $404 million of tax-exempt private-activity bonds for a commuter rail line connecting downtown Denver to Denver International Airport.

DALLAS — Redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station gains momentum this week with the closing on a $146 million loan from the federal government.

DALLAS — The winning bidder for Denver’s 23-mile rail line from downtown to Denver International Airport says it can bring the project to completion 11 months earlier than expected and $300 million under budget.

DALLAS — Boasting a top credit rating, Denver anticipates a strong response to next week’s $350 million deal that will include the city’s first Build America Bonds.

DALLAS — The University of Colorado Hospital will use bond financing for a $400 million expansion at the new Anschutz Medical Campus at the site of the former Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, officials said yesterday.

DALLAS — Denver’s latest plan to build a long-delayed hotel at Denver International Airport would use revenue bonds to finance construction of the facility atop a planned commuter rail line at the south end of the landmark Jeppesen Terminal.

DALLAS — Less than two years after voters rejected a $395 million bond issue, Colorado’s affluent Douglas County School District will issue $79.6 million of general obligation refunding bonds while struggling to cut costs.

DALLAS — On the heels of a Fitch Ratings downgrade, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System plans to issue more than $1 billion of revenue bonds this week for operations in three states.

DALLAS — Colorado will begin its next fiscal year July 1 with a $20 billion budget patched together with federal stimulus money and the elimination of tax breaks to cover a $1.3 billion shortfall.

DALLAS — With its credit rating at the lowest rung of investment grade, Colorado’s E-470 Public Highway Authority has received a negative outlook from Fitch Ratings due to falling toll traffic.

DALLAS — Without a sales tax increase, the Denver area’s FasTracks transit system — originally designed as a 12-year project — would not be completed until 2042, according to the Regional Transportation District.

DALLAS — Colorado voters could slam the door on public borrowing when they go to the polls in November, a possibility that has the bond community and government officials preparing for a worst-case scenario.

The Cherry Creek School District, one of the largest and most affluent school districts in Colorado, will go to market next week with $101.8 million of general obligation debt, including $86.7 million of taxable Build America Bonds.

DALLAS — Denver will commit up to $8 million per year for 20 years to secure a $300 million federal loan for redeveloping its Union Station train terminal as a hub for an ambitious mass-transit system.

DALLAS — As he begins his last full year as governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter is providing lawmakers a roadmap to close a $1 billion budget shortfall when they open their 2010 legislative session in Denver today.