Florida

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that reaffirms the use of certificates of participation in the state, according to attorneys.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Two days after the Nov. 2 general election, when Florida Republicans won a majority of seats in the Legislature, incoming leaders decided to call a special session to override vetoes by outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Defaults by some Florida community development districts that sold “dirt bonds” to finance infrastructure improvements for residential and commercial real estate projects continued Monday as debt-service payments came due.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The newly created Florida Education Investment Trust Fund has hired PFM Asset Management LLC as its investment adviser.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validation of $29 million of bonds that Sarasota and Sarasota County want to sell to renovate the spring training ­facilities of Major League Baseball’s ­Baltimore Orioles.

WASHINGTON — California and Florida are the biggest winners of high-speed rail grants, securing $1.7 billion out of a total of $2.5 billion to help close ­funding gaps for ambitious rail projects that have already received large federal grants.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority expects to sell $280 million of tax-exempt bonds Tuesday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The South Florida Water Management District paid $194 million in cash Tuesday for the purchase of 26,800 acres of land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration, and may use debt to buy additional acreage over the next decade.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida audit of a $48 million appeals court building financed with $33.5 million of bonds Tuesday listed 17 findings that “appear to be inconsistent” with Florida statutes, state operating policies, or generally acceptable internal control practices.

The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority board will work with bondholders to establish a creditors' committee in hopes of restructuring $115 million of debt for a toll bridge in northwest Florida that is headed for default next year.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A north Florida grand jury decided Wednesday not to pursue an investigation into the construction and furnishing of a $48 million appeals court building that was financed with $33.5 million of bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Palm Beach County, Fla., officials hope that Congress will extend federal stimulus bond and tax-credit provisions needed to provide a critical financing element for a long-planned convention center hotel.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida grand jury will consider whether to investigate a court building costing $47 million that was financed largely with tax-exempt bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. is asking Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority bondholders if they are interested in creating a committee to investigate potential resolutions to the northwest Florida issuer’s looming payment default.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Sarasota and two counties on Florida’s southwest coast plan to take advantage of federally subsidized economic recovery zone and Build America Bonds when they issue more than $100 million of debt for the spring-training facilities of two Major League Baseball teams.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Orange County, Fla., will competitively price $148 million of tourist-development tax refunding revenue bonds Tuesday as tax collections appear to be stabilizing from recessionary lows last year.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Fraternal Order of Police has filed a suit against Miami asking a judge to invoke a process that would essentially place the city’s finances under state control once again.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority in northwest Florida has been notified that its guaranteed investment-contract provider wants to terminate its contract, according to authority attorney Roy Andrews.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County is completing the sale of $217 million of transit sales-tax revenue bonds today for institutional investors.

The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority could deplete its debt-service reserve in the current fiscal year, which could result in a payment default next July, Florida Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday.