Michigan

A coalition of reformers charged with making recommendations to Gov. Rick Snyder to overhaul the troubled Detroit school district wants the state to take over the district's general fund debt payments, which total $53 million a year.

A Detroit-based coalition is set to release Monday afternoon a series of recommendations that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will use to help guide a high-profile reform of the troubled Detroit school system.

Moody’s Investors Service hit Detroit Public Schools with another downgrade late Monday, warning that the troubled district faces major fiscal stress and a rising debt burden.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is touring the state urging voters to approve a May referendum to raise the state sales tax to generate new money for roads, saying it’s key to the state’s continued rebound.

Municipalities in fiscal crisis faced diminished abilities to manage federal grants because of workforce reductions, decreased financial capacities and outdated information technologies, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a report.

Macomb County reduced the maturity down to 20 years from 25 years on $263 million of OPEB bonds it sold last week, a move it said saved the county $47 million in interest costs.

Michigan senators approved a bill giving investors in Detroit’s income tax-backed bonds both a statutory lien and an intercept aimed at snagging at least one investment-grade rating on the city’s first post-bankruptcy bond deal set for the spring.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appointed utility executive Nick Khouri as state treasurer to replace Kevin Clinton, who is leaving to return to the private insurance sector.

Hitting Wayne County, Mich. with its third downgrade in four weeks, Fitch Ratings warned that $200 million of bonds issued for a new downtown Detroit jail could be particularly vulnerable to default.

Detroit emerged from the largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S. with stronger credit fundamentals but the city heads into the future facing major economic challenges, Moody's says in a new report.

The head of Wayne County, home to Detroit, has ordered a spending freeze across the government as the county tries to stabilize its credit deterioration and ward off a state takeover.

A bill designed to ease Detroit's first appearance in the public debt market since its bankruptcy sailed through a Michigan legislative committee and could come before the Senate next week.

Moody's affirmed its junk ratings but revised its outlook to stable from negative on the Pontiac, Michigan school district, where a 2013 default made it one of the few school district to default in the nation.

Michigan lawmakers have sent Gov. Rick Snyder legislation that patches an estimated $420 million current-year shortfall coming from business tax credits.

Macomb County, which borders Detroit, is expected to come to market next week with $264 million of retiree health care bonds to pay off all of the outstanding OPEB obligation.

Detroit leaders are poised to send a $1 billion 2016 budget to the financial committee that oversees the bankrupt city that it hopes will be the first of three straight balanced budgets that would give the city financial independence by 2018.

Municipal bond borrowing by Midwestern issuers picked up steam last year, rising by 6.9% to $63.5 billion as issuers loosened the reins a bit on new money borrowing and refundings recorded double-digit gains thanks to favorable interest rates.

Easing Detroit Public Schools' debt burden is considered key to the district's revival and survival, and bankruptcy is possible, according to one of the reformers working on the turnaround effort.

A week after pushing Wayne County, Mich. to junk territory, Standard & Poor's released a commentary saying it's too early to start talking about bankruptcy or a state takeover for the county, home to Detroit.

An agreement on staffing a new customs facility in Detroit removes the final roadblock to a $3.3 billion P3 bridge project.