Michigan

A struggling film studio located in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac has a new tenant, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.

Michigan state Rep. Maureen Stapleton, who represents Detroit, last week introduced legislation that would create a bond-issuing authority to take over the city’s troubled lighting department.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Glenda Price, a former college president, to the nine-member financial advisory board that will help oversee the implementation of the consent agreement between Detroit and the state.

Michigan continues to climb out of its devastating 10-year recession and could see its unemployment rate fall to 7.4% by the end of 2014, economists and state fiscal officials said Wednesday at the Legislature’s twice-annual revenue estimating conference.

CHICAGO — Washtenaw County was forced to cover a May 1 debt-service payment for a small Michigan township that doesn't have enough money to meet its obligation on a failed special-assessment development.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last Thursday met with top Canadian officials to talk about a proposed $4 billion, publicly funded trade bridge spanning the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, according to local reports.

The Michigan Senate last week passed a package of bills that would repeal the personal property tax, but the controversial measure faces a more uncertain fate in the House, which likely won’t even consider the bills until the fall.

CHICAGO — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing Thursday tapped Jack Martin to be the city's new chief financial officer and oversee its urgent efforts to stabilize finances and avoid bankruptcy.

In a closely watched vote, residents of Allen Park, Mich., defeated a bond referendum that would have allowed the struggling Detroit suburb to make debt payments on a controversial failed film studio development.

Detroit Public Schools will enter the market with a $142 million bond issue that will allow the troubled district to get out of an agreement with Assured Guaranty Inc. that for years has cramped its ability to borrow.

A federal bankruptcy court last week approved a deal allowing the Flint-based McLaren Health Care Corp. to buy Cheboygan Memorial Hospital, a troubled facility located in northern Michigan.

A move to eliminate Michigan’s personal property tax would likely drive up real property taxes, a coalition of public school leaders warned last week.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing Friday announced his two appointments to the nine-member financial review board that will oversee the city’s finances as part of the new consent decree with the state.

The Michigan House Local, Intergovernmental and Regional Affairs Committee last week began considering a bill to increase the amount a troubled municipality could borrow from the state to $20 million from $3 million.

A battle over competing international bridge plans in Michigan that has roiled the Legislature for years could find resolution with a public vote later this year.

Michigan said it withheld its April 20 state aid payment to the Pontiac City School District, a move that Moody’s Investors Service warned presents a severe credit challenge to the already troubled system.

CHICAGO — The Michigan Senate Wednesday launched the first hearing on Gov. Rick Snyder's controversial measure to eliminate the state's personal property tax, a move that would likely bring more pain for already-struggling local governments.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last week determined that a financial emergency exists in Muskegon Heights Schools, a district in a Detroit suburb that has been plagued by years of deficits and falling enrollment.

CHICAGO — Michigan is touting the strong history and credit quality of its water loan program as it brings $240 million of triple-A rated clean and drinking water revenue bonds to market Tuesday.

CHICAGO — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's office Wednesday presented a $2.5 billion all-funds fiscal 2013 budget that marks the first step in a rigorous new budget process required under the historic consent agreement the struggling city signed with Michigan last week.