Missouri

The results of bond-related ballot measures in Missouri Tuesday offer mixed credit results, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Kansas City heads into the market Thursday with a $332 million new money and refunding special obligation backed issue.

St. Louis, its sewer district, and Kansas City scored fiscal victories in elections Tuesday in Missouri, when Ferguson voters rendered a split decision on proposed tax increases.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is appealing a state court ruling that blocks a portion of a 2015 law aimed at reining in local governments’ reliance on municipal court fines to fund operations.

Ferguson and the U.S. Justice Department will soon seek court approval on a consent agreement that outlines municipal court and policing reforms.

Voters in the St. Louis region face a series of ballot measures April 5 that stand to profoundly impact their local government’s fiscal fortunes.

Ferguson, Mo.’s already junk-level rating was placed on review for downgrade because of threats to the city's solvency after it rejected a negotiated consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department for the tactics of its police department.

The Missouri House intends to restore the $12 million appropriation – recently stripped from the state’s pending fiscal 2017 budget -- that goes to repay its share of debt issued for the St. Louis Rams’ stadium.

Moberly, Missouri, which fell to junk-bond status after reneging on an appropriation pledge, inched closer to an investment grade with a two-notch upgrade from Standard & Poor's to BB-minus.

The Midwest lagged the national uptick in issuance last year as the conservative region did take advantage of low interest rates to refund debt but held tight the purse strings on new money borrowing.