Florida

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.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The South Florida Water Management District unanimously approved a plan Thursday to pay nearly $200 million in cash, instead of using bond financing, to purchase U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration projects.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Boosted by the popularity of Build America Bonds and refunding opportunities, issuers in the 11 states that comprise the Southeast region sold $34.5 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2010, up 7.4% over the same period last year.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida is on a fast track to complete the first high-speed rail project in the U.S. with a new application for $1.12 billion in funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s service development program.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The South Florida Water Management District will consider a plan on Thursday to pay cash, instead of using debt, for a scaled-down version of the U.S. Sugar Corp. land purchase for Everglades restoration.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Environmental sustainability. That was the main factor driving the California-based nonprofit RSF Social Finance to invest through its customized fixed-income portfolio in a municipal bond deal from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in March.

JPMorgan has hired Jose Pagan to run the firm’s public finance operations in south Florida.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority, after a four-year hiatus, is back in the bond market this week with $345 million of toll-revenue bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority is preparing to launch an $820 million bond financing program for the construction of one of the first waste-to-energy facilities built in the U.S. in many years.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Faced with a looming deficit and difficult union negotiations, officials in Miami are looking at ways to shore up a nearly $100 million hole in next year’s budget.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Municipal Loan Council and the city of South Miami have notified investors in the Series 2002A and 2006 pool bonds that they have voluntarily entered the Internal Revenue Service’s compliance program.