Florida

Port St. Lucie, Fla. is telling bondholders that the bankruptcy of Digital Domain will not impede debt-service payments on bonds issued for the firm's abandoned campus there.

The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority, which built a north Florida toll bridge with bonds that are now in default, will ask the trustee to fund its first audit in 12 years.

A real estate developer in St. Petersburg, Fla., will present his idea for building the Tampa Bay Rays a new stadium to the City Council.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., City Commission Wednesday approved issuing $340 million of taxable pension obligation bonds to pay 75% of the city's unfunded liability.

The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority has named interim director Max Crumit to be the Florida agency's permanent leader.

Backed by four ratings, among them Kroll Bond Rating Agency's first in Florida, Orange County hopes to reap extra savings during Thursday's $101.6 million refunding sale.

Moody's Investors Service has expanded its review for potentially downgrading Miami to include pension obligations and health care costs in addition to pending SEC charges.

Municipal bond issuance in the Southeast during the first half of this year was up by 57% to $34 billion - nearly the same amount that was lost between 2011 and 2010.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., City Commissioners Tuesday selected the finance team for the proposed issuance of $340 million of taxable pension bonds.

The Miami-Dade School Board last week gave final approval to placing a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot to ask voters for approval to issue $1.2 billion of bonds for its South Florida schools.

Tampa Bay Water on Monday voted to issue bonds to finance some of the repairs to its cracked reservoir.

A Florida law allowing local governments to declare a "financial urgency" can be an effective strategy for budget relief, says Fitch. Miami has used it several times.

Standard & Poor's Tuesday affirmed its BBB rating on Miami's general obligation bonds in the wake of SEC actions.

Miami Beach voters Tuesday's agreed to increase the local tourist tax on hotel rooms by 1%.

A federal judge has denied Tampa Bay Water's motion for a new trial to seek repair costs for Florida’s largest reservoir. The agency will now press on with an appeal.

Attorneys for Miami have proposed a settlement to head off federal civil charges proposed by Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a similar case against the city in the 1990s.

Major environmental groups in Florida this week unveiled a campaign to ask the state's voters to approve a new bond program that could fund as much as $10 billion in conservation programs.

The Tampa Bay Rays will begin talks with Hillsborough and Pinellas counties about the team's future on Florida's west coast. Those discussions could include moving the team from its current homebase in St. Petersburg.

South Florida's Miami-Dade County School Board has agreed to ask voters to approve a $1.2 billion bond issue. The nation's fourth-largest school district wants to make systemwide infrastructure improvements and upgrade technology.

Fort Lauderdale is thinking about selling about $300 million of pension obligation bonds. While some people think they are too risky, bond market experts say taxable rates are at historic lows and that POBs could actually bring discipline to the city's finances.