Michigan

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.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded more than three dozen Michigan school districts this year as falling enrollment continues to strain their finances.

Wayne County's proposed consent agreement with the state requires the county to continue to make timely debt payments and enhances the government's power over collective bargaining.

Are a statutory lien and other state-crafted protections on Detroit's first post-bankruptcy bond sale enough for investors assessing the city's long-term recovery?

Detroit emerged from bankruptcy poised to rebuild through major infrastructure projects, former emergency manager Kevyn Orr said in Boston.

Standard & Poor's said it would wait to see the terms of Wayne County's consent agreement with the state before taking action on the junk-rated county.

Detroit's bankruptcy and Puerto Rico's default are similar to New York City's mid-1970s crisis, public finance veteran Richard Ravitch says.

The Wayne County, Mich., board opted to enter a consent agreement with the state government, one of the four choices it had to deal with the county's financial emergency.

Detroit is nearing its first public bond sale since bankruptcy as it posted bond documents for the deal on Thursday.

The Wayne County, Mich. board of commissioners is scheduled to vote Thursday on how to resolve its financial emergency.

Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management, the country's largest municipal advisory firm, said it has acquired Stauder, Barch & Associates, Michigan's oldest FA firm.