Colorado

DALLAS — Even with ratings at the low end of investment grade, Colorado’s E-470 Public Highway Authority sees an opportunity for favorable interest rates on a $105 million toll revenue bond refunding this week.

DALLAS — The City and County of Denver is aiming to take advantage of low interest rates and its top credit rating with the competitive sale of $45 million of general obligation bonds and a $40 million refunding of certificates of participation.

DALLAS — Three ballot initiatives that would drastically curtail the ability of Colorado state agencies and local governments to issue debt are winning little support from voters, according to the first public polling on the issue.

DALLAS — Facing a budget deficit that could run as high as $257 million, the Colorado Legislature must cut spending by at least $189 million before the end of the fiscal year on June 30, according to state economists.

DALLAS — Michael Cheroutes, a Denver attorney and expert in public finance, will guide Colorado’s search for new highway funding mechanisms as the first director of its High Performance Transportation Enterprise agency.

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.