Georgia

BRADENTON, Fla. — Some municipal bond market observers say last week’s stunning five-notch downgrade of Georgia’s third-largest county highlights the importance of disclosure — or what Standard & Poor’s sees as insufficient disclosure in the case of DeKalb County.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s new Water Supply Task Force began mapping a strategy on Monday for the use of $300 million of bonds to help finance critical drinking facilities in the state.

BRADENTON, Fla. — With severe restrictions pending on how Georgia obtains its drinking water, a state senator wants to give local governments the option of financing water-related infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships.

BRADENTON, Fla. — It will cost an estimated $700 million to build the Atlanta Falcons the open-air stadium the National Football League team has sought for several years.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is poised to enact emergency procedures this week to ensure Atlanta Public Schools doesn’t lose its high school accreditation — a development that would prevent its new graduates from getting into most colleges and qualifying for ­scholarships.

BRADENTON, Fla. — On his third day in office, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal unveiled a $37.54 billion budget for fiscal 2012 that recommends $563 million of bonds and a four-year plan to borrow $300 million for reservoirs.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Though inaugural festivities were curtailed by a major winter storm blowing through the Deep South, Nathan Deal was sworn in Monday as the 82nd governor of triple-A rated Georgia.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Fulton County, Ga.’s water and sewer revenue bonds to Aa3 from Aa2 , citing the system’s weakened financial position and narrowed debt-service coverage.

For the second year in a row, Moody's Investors Service has downgraded DeKalb County, Ga.'s general obligation rating because of pressured financial operations and the near-term challenge of restoring the general fund balance to levels consistent with a higher rating level.

Hoping to tap the same investor momentum seen in a recent oversubscribed offering, Atlanta has accelerated plans to market a $505 million refunding for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that was expected to sell next year.

The nonprofit Atlanta BeltLine Partnership has created an organization called the Atlanta Land Trust Collaborative to protect neighborhoods at risk of displacement as the city's massive BeltLine project proceeds. The ALTC will be led by executive director Anthony Pickett, the partnership announced Monday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation has issued a request for proposals for a master developer to undertake a complex multi-modal passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta that will help shape future city ­development.

Atlanta may bring its next airport bond issue to market sooner than anticipated because of widespread investor interest in last week's successful sale of $588 million for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, officials said.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta this week will bring to market nearly $600 million of bonds for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the facility’s first long-term fixed-rate financing in six years.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Standard & Poor’s Thursday changed its outlook on the A rating it assigns to Atlanta’s general obligation bonds and other credits to negative from stable, citing concerns about the city’s weak liquidity and internal fund borrowing practices.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Like other cities ­dealing with congestion, Atlanta has been searching for ways to move people around downtown without building new roads or ­adding more vehicles.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Atlanta City Council on Monday gave unanimous final approval for the sale of up to $800 million of revenue bonds to finance the completion of a new terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

BRADENTON, Fla. — In its only issuance this year, gilt-edged Georgia expects to sell $975 million of general obligation bonds Tuesday in a single competitive sale.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta plans to bring $1.34 billion of new and refunding airport revenue bonds to market between November and January in two long-planned transactions.

BRADENTON, Fla. — When the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia sold $2.66 billion of bonds in March for the first U.S. nuclear power project in nearly three decades, it faced a challenge. With interest rates so low and the financial markets so uncertain, how would it invest such a huge portfolio of bond proceeds before it needed to draw funds to pay for its share of two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle near Augusta?