Michigan

The unclear future of Detroit Public Schools state-aid backed bonds, plus governance and tax collection issues following the district's restructuring, prompted Moody's Investors Service to shift its outlook to "developing" from "negative."

Detroit Public Schools' $212 million of state aid-backed bonds slipped two to three notches further into junk territory over uncertainty tied to the bonds' security after a restructuring of the school district.

Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, one of the largest healthcare systems in Southeast Michigan, hits the market with an $821 million refunding next week sporting an upgrade from one rating agency and a positive outlook shift from another.

Michigan’s economy has continued to improve without helping the fiscal health of the state’s local governments, according to a new University of Michigan report on the state’s local governments.

The default of some unrated nonprofit project bonds in Michigan and subsequent struggle to recover funds highlights the frustration bondholders sometimes feel in working with trustees, who are tasked with acting as the agents of the investors in distressed and default situations.

The issuers of the Midwest sold $41 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2016, spurred by increased new money issuance, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Michigan's Wayne State University expects to return to the bond market to raise up to $14 million for the new business school for which it broke ground last month.

Bondholders' poor recovery relative to pensioners in Detroit was typical of municipal bankruptcies, as protecting the workforce has outweighed debt repayment in courtrooms across the nation.

Detroit-based law firm Clark Hill is expanding its public finance reach in Michigan with the acquisition of competitor Axe & Ecklund.

The city of Wayne, Michigan lost its investment grade rating amid struggles to erase red ink and faces further credit erosion as it veers toward state oversight.

Michigan needs to increase funding to adequately meet the state’s education needs, a new research report warns.

A $70 million injection of private capital from local philanthropists will boost Kalamazoo, Michigan, said Moody’s Investors Service.

The Great Lakes Water Authority is preparing its first bond issues since launching on Jan. 1, when it assumed Detroit’s $5.5 billion water and sewer debt portfolio and took charge of regional water management.

Detroit Public Schools' $212 million of state aid-backed bonds received a downgrade to junk from S&P Global Ratings.

A compromise agreement to put a tax hike on the November ballot that would help fund a $4.7 billion mass transit funding package for Southeastern Michigan could be voted on Thursday.

The Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority failed to secure enough votes to put a 20-year transportation millage on the Nov. 8 ballot in a vote taken this week.

Investor appetite for yield overcame any credit quality concerns buyers had as Detroit saw strong demand for its first post-bankruptcy general obligation/distributable state aid backed bond sale issue.

Detroit, already facing headwinds with its first post-bankruptcy general obligation/distributable state aid backed sale, could suffer some spill due to the state’s disruption of a similar security on some of Detroit Public Schools' bonds, one municipal market participant suggested.

The authority that runs Detroit's main airport is on the hunt for a new leader following chief executive officer Thomas Naughton's decision to retire this fall.

With all governmental approvals and ratings in hand, Detroit expects to be in the market soon with its first post-Chapter 9 general obligation state distributive aid backed borrowing.