Florida

Leon County, Fla., home of the state capital in Tallahassee, will offer a new countywide residential and commercial PACE programs after years of planning and legal setbacks.

The Federal Housing Administration said it will begin insuring mortgages on certain properties that include PACE assessments if the obligation is treated like a property tax and it does not have priority status over the FHA mortgage lien.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed audits and left the tax-exempt status unchanged for $311.28 million of community development district bonds in Florida that started the whole debate about political subdivisions and led the tax agency to propose controversial rules for such districts earlier this year.

Miami Beach will begin preliminary negotiations with a group led by France-based Alstom to build a modern light rail streetcar estimated to cost $400 million in its famed South Beach district.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is battling with Miami and former budget director Michael Boudreaux over whether they can defend themselves against securities fraud charges by saying they relied on advice from auditors.

The small south Florida city of Opa-locka, recently designated by the state to be in a financial emergency, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the Miami Herald.

In a first-of-its-kind case, a federal judge hears arguments June 30 on motions to dismiss a challenge by two Florida counties of $1.75 billion in private activity bonds for the All Aboard Florida passenger train.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed nine people, including six top level state employees, to take charge of Opa-locka’s finances while the city is in a state of financial emergency.

A Florida court has denied Indian River County’s quest to block a state-created conduit issuer from selling $1.75 billion of tax exempt bonds for All Aboard Florida’s planned private passenger rail project.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared the small city of Opa-locka to be in a financial emergency late Wednesday, authorizing the state to take control of the city’s finances and debts.

Port St. Lucie, Fla., will only recover 6% from the bond-laden incentive package the city used to lure a digital effects studio to town.

Tax-exempt bonds give municipal issuers a unique advantage in negotiating public-private partnerships, a factor that some municipal market and legal advocates say should not be overshadowed.

Municipal market participants are urging the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service to withdraw their proposed rules on political subdivisions, claiming they are unnecessary, possibly illegal, and would disrupt the municipal bond market.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed two audits with no change to the tax-exempt status of $117.73 million of utility revenue bonds issued by the Village Center Community Development District in 1998 and 2003, but retired in 2014.

Miami’s “dramatically improving and diverse economy” was a driving force that led Moody's Investors Service to upgrade the city’s general obligation bonds to Aa3 from A1, despite pending SEC and pension suits.

Orange County, Fla., prices $84 million of triple-A-rated new money bonds Wednesday to finance water and sewer expansion projects for its currently debt-free utility system.

Florida-based GrayRobinson PA has teamed up with Capitol Insight, an influential lobbying group that will complement its government relations and lobbying practice, the firm said Wednesday.

Despite what they say is low unemployment in their states, four governors who spoke on a panel at the Milken Institute Global conference said job creation is their main priority.

A Corps of Engineers study assessing storm and flood risks is credit positive for Florida’s local governments because it will prioritize projects eligible for federal funds, Moody's Investors Service said Friday.

West Palm Beach, Fla.’s plan to borrow $60 million in taxable bonds to boost its already 83% funded police pension plan received divergent views from market experts.