Michigan

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced last week that deputy mayor Kirk Lewis left the administration for a job in the private sector.

The long-struggling city of Flint, which has been under emergency management for more than a year, is selling nearly $60 million of speculative-grade bonds on behalf of Hurley Medical Center, a city owned facility that serves as the local safety net provider.

If Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appoints an emergency manager for Detroit, that person will tackle $15 billion of long-term debt liabilities and try to maneuver around a $440 million swap termination payment.

Treasurer Andy Dillon said Detroit can avoid bankruptcy, after a Michigan review team found that a financial emergency exists in the city paving the way for an emergency manager.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing last week unveiled a public-private partnership to tackle demolition of the countless vacant and blighted buildings across the city.

The board of Wayne State University last week approved a plan to sell $92 million of general revenue bonds this spring to finance new construction, including a new building in Detroit.

With the threat of an emergency manager hanging over Detroit, Mayor Dave Bing said the city is making progress despite its fiscal problems during an optimistic state of the city address.

Long-time Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson – recovering from an August car accident in which he was seriously injured -- said the triple-A county was starting to rebound from the Great Recession.

Refunding opportunities fueled a 36.3% surge in bond issuance among Midwestern borrowers last year as the steadfastly conservative region shied away from adding new debt in favor of shoring up balance sheets.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday presented a $51 billion all-funds 2014 budget that would raise fuel and registration taxes to support $1.2 billion of new annual infrastructure funding, expand Medicaid and boost education spending.

A bill introduced last week would ask Michigan voters to raise the state sales tax by 2 percentage points to generate new money for transportation infrastructure funding.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced the city would close 50 parks, whittling the number of open parks down to 57, after the city council rejected a proposal to lease the city's largest park to the state for 30 years.

City officials recently warned that the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, which is already under state control, could run out of money by the end of February, and a new audit raises questions about the city's ability to continue "as a going concern."

A deal that would have allowed the state to lease Detroit's largest and most popular park and issue bonds to fix it up may be dead after city council tabled it and Gov. Rick Snyder withdrew the offer.

Moody's Investors Service Monday downgraded to A2 from A1 its underlying rating on Jackson Public Schools ahead of a planned refunding of $11.2 million of general obligation bonds.

Almost $24.75 million of limited obligation revenue bonds issued in 2005 and 2010 for the Old Redford Academy charter school in Detroit could become taxable and have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's because the Internal Revenue Service revoked the school's foundation's tax-exempt status.

Moody's Investors Service placed tobacco settlement revenue bonds of issuers in 17 states and two territories under review with direction uncertain because of legal settlement announced in December. The action affects $20.5 billion of debt.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder urged lawmakers to pass legislation to boost gas taxes and vehicle fees to raise at least $1.2 billion of new annual revenue for transportation infrastructure.

The treasury department is replacing Benton Harbor's long-time emergency financial manager, Joe Harris, on Feb. 1.

Newly fired Detroit Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon announced Monday she is forming an exploratory committee for a possible bid for mayor.