Indiana

CHICAGO — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has named a new state public finance director to replace outgoing director Jennifer Alvey, who leaves the post for the private sector this week.

CHICAGO — Indiana lawmakers Wednesday morning held a first hearing on a bill that would allow local units of government to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service last week cut its rating one notch to A2 and assigned a negative outlook to nearly $1 billion of Indianapolis water bonds.

Standard & Poor's raised its long-term and underlying ratings on Indiana University to AA-plus from AA.

A state regulatory commission will hold a public hearing next week on Indianapolis' plan to sell its water and sewer systems to a nonprofit utility.

Tax-exempt toll revenue bonds and public-private partnerships may be used to finance the $4.1 billion Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project.

CHICAGO — Triple-A rated Indiana, which was hit harder and earlier than many states by the national recession, will likely start to enjoy a revenue rebound the next three years, budget officials said this week.

CHICAGO — The Indianapolis Airport Authority on Tuesday will price a yet-to-be determined amount of refunding bonds to take advantage of the federal alternative-minimum tax holiday.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis will lease its parking meters for 50 years to a private company under a controversial plan by Mayor Greg Ballard that was narrowly approved Monday by the city-county council.

CHICAGO — Whiting, Ind., this week will issue $60 million of tax-exempt refunding bonds on behalf of BP Products North America Inc., which is in the midst of a $3.8 billion expansion of its Whiting-based oil refinery.

CHICAGO — Transit advocates in central Indiana plan to push forward with a high-profile regional transportation plan that features a $2.5 billion mass-transit expansion despite opposition from Republican leaders.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis would float $86 million of tax-increment financing bonds to finance construction of a new corporate campus for Eli Lilly and Co.— the pharmaceutical giant that is the city’s top private-sector employer — under a plan Mayor Greg Ballard will submit to the City-County Council next week.

Scaling down local government and expanding public-private partnerships for infrastructure are among Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels top priorities for the upcoming legislative session, the governor said Thursday morning at a press conference.

CHICAGO — Indiana’s Purdue University will price $171 million of new-money and refunding bonds Thursday, and follow the sale with a $117 million borrowing in the next few weeks that will mark its fourth trip to market this year.

CHICAGO — Midwestern voters next week go to the polls to decide the fate of $2.16 billion worth of borrowing requests, choose new governors, and decide spending and taxing measures.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said he would revise key terms of a proposal to lease city parking meters to a private company for 50 years amid rising criticism from members of the Indianapolis and Marion County City-County Council.

CHICAGO — Indiana auditors warned that the long-struggling city of Gary could face insolvency as it tries to overcome massive drops in property tax revenue tied to the state’s two-year-old tax cap legislation.

CHICAGO — Indiana voters in November are expected to approve a ballot measure to make the state’s property-tax caps permanent — a move some local officials say could deepen the chill on local government borrowing that’s settled over the state since the caps were enacted in 2008.

CHICAGO — Public power agencies in Indiana and Ohio plan to return to the market this month with their final borrowings for the Prairie State coal-fired plant project that has risen in cost by more than $1 billion to $4 billion.

CHICAGO — A local dispute over a $150 million performing arts center prompted the Indiana attorney general last week to issue an opinion ruling that redevelopment commissions can issue some types of debt without the approval of a city’s legislative body.