Florida

Standard & Poor's last week dropped Sarasota County's limited ad valorem tax bonds four notches to BBB from A-plus.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority bondholders did not get paid July 1, according to the Florida agency's trustee, Bank of New York Mellon.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Miami has suffered several rating downgrades in the last two weeks as the financially stressed city plans to bring a refunding to market.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A last-ditch effort to prevent the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority in northwest Florida from a bond payment default has failed and the remaining member of the board plans to resign next week.

Nearly two years after first issuing debt to build a performing arts center, Orlando finally broke ground on the long-awaited facility.

Miami-Dade County voters on Tuesday chose former County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez as their new mayor.

Four Jefferson County, Ala., lawmakers are legally opposing the sewer rate increase proposed by the court-appointed receiver managing the county's sewer system and its defaulted debt.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Two Florida issuers plan to sell revenue refunding bonds to refinance variable- and fixed-rate bonds and to terminate swaps at a cost that could top more than $100 million.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. next week expects to sell up to $900 million of revenue bonds and notes to provide liquidity for the current hurricane season, which began June 1.

Standard & Poor's on Monday revised its rating outlook to negative from stable and affirmed its BBB-plus rating on $5.7 million of Series 2002B bonds issued on behalf of Martin Memorial Medical Center.

BRADENTON, Fla. - South Miami is seeking a taxable bank loan to fund a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over impermissible uses of tax-exempt bond and bank loan proceeds to build a parking garage.

WASHINGTON — The Village Center Community Development District in Florida is asking the Internal Revenue Service for legal advice on whether it is a political subdivision — an issue critical to the tax-exempt status of million of bonds it issued.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Less than 30 days remain before an expected payment default on the bonds issued by the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority to build the tolled 3.5-mile-long Garcon Point Bridge in northern Florida.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott last week signed a $69.1 billion budget into law while vetoing a record $615 million for various projects, some of which would have been funded by bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Jacksonville, Fla., this week sold the first in a series of three bond deals that could total as much as $435 million within a month, depending on market conditions.

Miami-Dade County voters will decide in a special election Tuesday who among 11 candidates will be the next mayor of Florida’s largest county.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Hurricane ­Catastrophe Fund could issue up to $12 billion of bonds if needed to pay claims during this year’s hurricane season, according to estimates prepared by senior ­managers.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. plans to sell up to $900 million of revenue bonds to provide liquidity for the upcoming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

WASHINGTON — The Bartram Park Community Development District in Jacksonville, Fla., has received an audit notice from the Internal Revenue Service for $28.7 million of special assessment municipal bonds issued in 2005.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Legislature is poised to approve a $68 billion budget for fiscal 2012 on Friday and end its 60-day regular annual session on time.