Missouri

The Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit without changing the tax-exempt status of $219.22 million of bonds that were issued by the curators of the University of Missouri in 2006.

Charity care is on the rise at Missouri hospitals and that increase is not expected to abate due to lower Medicaid enrollment and job losses due to the economy, according to a report released last week.

The St. Louis Rams submitted an expansion plan for its home at the Edward Jones Dome that could cost $500 million to $750 million, according to published reports.

CHICAGO — The Missouri Legislature wrapped things up on Friday, adjourning after completing work in recent weeks on a $24 billion fiscal 2013 budget that relies in part on some upfront savings in two upcoming bond refundings.

CHICAGO — Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Sly James has dropped plans to seek $500 million of voter-approved general obligation borrowing authority this summer in favor of a sales tax increase and a separate $500 million sewer bond question.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has closed its audit with no change to the tax-exempt status of $19.04 million of tax-increment refunding revenue bonds that were issued in 2003 by the Florissant, Mo., Industrial Development Authority.

CHICAGO — Missouri lawmakers have shelved legislation that would have permitted the implementation of tolls on Interstate 70 to fund a $2 billion to $4 billion rebuilding and expansion of the aging highway through a public-private partnership.

The Missouri House advanced a bill that would require greater public scrutiny of tax-exempt bond assistance being sought by private companies along with increased financial disclosure by such firms.

A federal judge last week approved the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s $2.7 billion consent decree with federal authorities, bringing to a close a nearly five-year old lawsuit over clean-water violations.

CHICAGO — Milwaukee city and county voters chose new comptrollers last week, while those in a tornado-ravaged Missouri city approved bonding for school building projects, and St. Louis County voters approved new debt for courthouse projects.

CHICAGO — An investor with a stake in $39 million of defaulted bonds issued for a failed artificial sweetener plant in Missouri has filed a lawsuit accusing underwriter Morgan Keegan & Co. and counsel Armstrong Teasdale LLP of providing false and misleading information in the offering statement.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook to negative on the A2 rating of the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission’s MoPEP power pool bonds ahead of its $35.6 million issue.

The owners of the St. Louis Rams last week rejected the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Center’s proposed $124 million plan to upgrade the team’s Edward Jones Dome stadium, which relied on $60 million of public funding.

CHICAGO — Bank of America NA sued the St. Louis-based Jewish Community Center last week, alleging the nonprofit has withheld more than $4 million it owes the bank as a tactic to win more favorable terms on the repayment of $45 million of bonds held by the bank.

CHICAGO — The trustee for $39 million of defaulted appropriation-backed bonds issued for a failed artificial sweetener plant in Moberly, Mo., won't tap dwindling reserves to cover the March 1 debt service payment.

A Missouri House panel held a hearing Monday on a series of bills that, if enacted, would affect future borrowing by local governments for economic development projects.

CHICAGO — Three years after holders of $98 million of revenue bonds took ownership of the St. Louis convention center hotel complex, more than 50 potential buyers have expressed an interest in taking the hotels off their hands, according to the trustee.

CHICAGO — Missouri economic development officials and financial firms failed to conduct adequate due diligence on an artificial sweetener project in Moberly, lawmakers concluded in a report issued last week after a series of hearings probing the now abandoned, bond-financed project.

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Heartland Regional Medical Center’s underlying rating by one notch to A1, citing strong operating profitability.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week said any plan to implement tolls on Interstate 70 to fund its rebuilding should go before voters.