Florida

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.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Crews this week began geotechnical and survey work on the first phase of Florida’s $2.6 billion high-speed rail project from Tampa to Orlando, which is set to be built in the median of Interstate 4.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences has closed on a rare municipal bond offering from a Florida charter school.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County, Fla., next week is pricing $524 million of tax-exempt aviation revenue bonds in what is expected to be the last major financing for Miami International Airport’s $6.49 billion capital improvement plan.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last week called for a special session of the Legislature on an oil-drilling ban in state waters, but the move has elicited criticism from lawmakers who say it’s a waste of money and others who say the limited scope of the session is disappointing.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of $52.5 million of bonds issued by the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District in southwest Florida with no change to the tax-exempt status of the debt, the district disclosed this week.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Port of Palm Beach, located in one of Florida’s wealthiest areas, saw one of its revenue bond ratings drop below investment grade last week.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Fitch Ratings on Wednesday downgraded the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida to below investment grade because of spending irregularities cited in a recent notice of violation by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Miami’s general obligation ratings just ahead of a financing to build parking garages for the Marlins’ new baseball stadium, which is under construction.

U.S. attorneys last week filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit filed in March by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum challenging the massive health care reform bill.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Fitch Ratings on Friday maintained a negative outlook on Collier County, Fla.’s sales and gas tax bonds in part because of “the potential impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”