Iowa

Oral arguments are expected to take place early next year on CIFG Assurance North America Inc.'s request that a New York State court judge order Assured Guaranty Corp. to cover the policy on $83.3 million of Xenia Iowa Rural Water District bonds as part of its reinsurance agreement.

Fighting insolvency, the Xenia Rural Water District of Iowa made a partial debt-service payment due last week on $83 million of water revenue bonds — with CIFG Assurance North America Inc. covering the remainder — as the struggling utility prepares to release a restructuring plan later this month.

Iowa's revenue picture continues to improve, with the state's Revenue Estimating Conference now projecting that an additional $34.1 million will be collected in the current fiscal year over previous estimates and $85.5 million next year.

CHICAGO — The Iowa Finance Authority will compete for investor interest in a crowded market Tuesday with the sale of $293 million of triple-A rated, new-money and refunding state revolving fund revenue bonds that tap the Build America Bond program.

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 — Iowa expects to collect nearly $300 million more in revenue during the current fiscal year than previously anticipated and projects a 3.3% increase in revenues in fiscal 2011, its revenue estimating committee announced Monday.

CHICAGO — The Iowa State Board of Regents will competitively sell $20 million of debt Thursday in the final financing for the $43 million reconstruction and expansion of the Carver-Hawkeye Arena at the University of Iowa.

CHICAGO — Iowa will add $25 million of taxable bonds to its planned sale of $155 million of tax-exempt special obligation bonds for its IJOBS program in order to bolster its debt-service reserve on Build America Bonds issued last year for the program and fend off a possible downgrade.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Ames’ top rating ahead of its sale today of $6.7 million of general obligation bonds, saying the Iowa city’s credit strengths outweigh concerns over the near-term fiscal stress posed by recent flooding in the region.

Moody's Investors Service warned this week that last week's flooding across central Iowa could have negative credit implications for the hardest-hit towns.

CHICAGO — Midwestern bond issuance leaped by 32.5% to $39.8 billion for the first six months of the year, due primarily to Illinois’ borrowing spree to finance its $31 billion capital program and its use of debt for budgetary relief.

CHICAGO — CIFG Assurance North America Inc. on Monday sued Assured Guaranty Corp., charging it with breach of contract violations for reneging on its obligation to cover the policy on $83.3 million of Xenia Iowa Rural Water District bonds as part of its 19-month-old reinsurance agreement.

CHICAGO — Even with a water rate increase expected to boost revenues, the Xenia Rural Water District still faces possible insolvency as its revenues can’t keep up with repayment of its $140 million of debt, according to a new Iowa state auditor’s report.

CHICAGO — Standard & Poor’s Thursday downgraded the already junk-bond rated Xenia Rural Water District in Iowa to D from BB after it failed to make its full June debt-service payment on $83 million of outstanding bonds from a 2006 issue.

CHICAGO — Iowa, an earlier user of Build America Bonds, won't draw on that program again for two upcoming sales because the savings are not worth the worries over heightened scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service, Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald said yesterday.

CHICAGO — Facing insolvency as it struggles with $140 million of debt, the Xenia Rural Water District in Iowa is pinning its hopes on a workout plan that relies on a rate increase and sale of district assets to raise revenue plus $45.4 million in debt relief.

CHICAGO — Sixteen months after finalizing its agreement to reinsure a portfolio of $13 billion in CIFG Assurance NA-backed bonds, Assured Guaranty Corp. has decided to exclude from the pact the policy covering $83.3 million of debt issued in 2006 by the Xenia Rural Water District in Iowa.

CHICAGO — The Iowa Legislature adjourned this week after passing a $5.28 billion budget that relied on cuts, reserves, and savings from a reorganization plan to offset shrinking revenue, and included a $45 million increase in the state’s bond-financed Iowa Jobs capital program.

CHICAGO — Iowa Gov. Chet Culver this week unveiled a $5.32 billion fiscal 2011 budget that keeps the state in the black through the use of $254 million in fiscal reserves, $340 million in savings through a government reorganization and other cost-cutting measures, and $52 million from the elimination or reduction of some tax credits.

A handful of Midwestern state housing authorities, most of them shut out of the credit market this year, are acting to take advantage of the U.S. government's temporary new-issue bond program to jump-start their ability to provide new mortgages.