Michigan

The Internal Revenue Service is conducting a targeted audit of $200 million of recovery zone economic development bonds issued in 2010 by the Wayne County Building Authority in Michigan to finance a jail facility that was never completed.

The city of Flint, Mich. has asked Gov. Rick Snyder for $30 million to tackle contamination in its water supply, which has been a problem since the city broke off from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

As it prepares to sell bonds, the Wayne County Airport Authority, which runs Detroit’s airport, is highlighting its legal and political separations from its struggling home county, which is in the midst of a financial emergency.

Wayne County, Mich. Executive Warren Evans on Sept. 10 issued his first order under the county’s newly inked consent agreement with the state.

A statutory lien may not be enough for investors in light of the severe financial stress facing Detroit Public Schools, investors say.

Dramatic enrollment declines at the long-troubled Detroit Public Schools prompted downgrades from Standard & Poor’s on a chunk of the district’s state-aid backed bonds.

Detroit water and sewer bonds won an upgrade from Fitch Ratings amid improving operations.

Standard & Poor's Tuesday removed Wayne County's junk rating from Creditwatch Negative, the latest piece of good ratings news tied to the county's consent agreement with the state of Michigan.

A struggling hospital in an affluent Detroit suburb has merged with Ascension Health, the largest non-profit health care system in the country.

Expectations of nearly $1 billion in new revenue for rebounding Michigan would not be enough to offset shortfalls if the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder enact a plan to rely on the general fund to finance road repairs, warns a new report.

The Detroit suburb of Allen Park wants bondholders to sell back at par $31 million of bonds floated for a now-failed film studio that the city blames for a long financial decline.

Detroit snagged investment-grade ratings from Moody's Investors Service on its senior-lien water and sewer debt for the first time since before the city filed for bankruptcy.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has updated its bankruptcy guide for members with new information drawn from the relatively high number of municipal bankruptcy filings in the last few years.

Fitch Ratings removed Wayne County, Michigan's speculative grade rating of B from its Rating Watch Negative in recognition of the city's improved fiscal prospects under a proposed state consent agreement.

Detroit's finance director had no complaints Thursday about the steep premium the city paid to access the municipal market for the first time since exiting Chapter 9.

Michigan is putting the word out to struggling municipalities that a $5 million grant program is available to help fund special projects that could help free up tax revenue for key services.

Detroit will price its first post-bankruptcy borrowing Wednesday after a full-court press on investors that emphasized state backstops that won the deal an A rating.

Issuers in the Midwest sold $37.5 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2015, up 17.5 % from the same period of 2014 as refundings made up for a decline in new money issuance.

Moody’s Investors Service labeled Wayne County, Mich.’s proposed consent agreement with the state a credit positive as efforts advance to deal with the county’s fiscal emergency.

The Wayne County Commission Thursday approved a consent agreement with Michigan that will mean a partial state takeover for the struggling county.