New Jersey

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Thursday moved forward with a freight-rail expansion program while offering little information on the future of a new passenger-rail tunnel that would run between New Jersey and Manhattan.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority board this month is expected to vote to eliminate employee bonuses and payouts, toll-free work commutes, and other practices that have cost the agency $43 million in nearly four years.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is considering a two-part financing structure with a private developer that would design, build, finance, and maintain a new Goethals Bridge, according to the request for qualifications for the project.

The Essex County Improvement Authority is looking for underwriters for an $89 million real-estate lease-back bond deal with Newark that will help New Jersey’s largest city balance its fiscal 2010 budget.

New Jersey’s Local Finance Board Wednesday approved a lease-back bonding plan between Newark and the Essex County Improvement Authority that will help the state’s largest city fill an $83 million deficit in the current-year budget.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority plans to market $1.4 billion of bonds this week to finance various capital projects.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ­terminated an $8.7 billion passenger-rail tunnel project Thursday that would have doubled NJTransit rail capacity between New York City and northern New Jersey and created at least 6,000 construction jobs.

New Jersey has spent nearly $600 million on a new $8.7 billion passenger-rail tunnel called the Access to the Region’s Core, but Gov. Chris Christie may ­terminate the project due to escalating costs.

The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority is looking for a consultant to help craft a plan to assess the cost of transforming the 1,100-acre Army base in eastern New Jersey into a mixed-use development and create a financing strategy.

New Jersey and Atlantic City officials worked out a plan Tuesday to allow the state’s gambling center to spread out a $9.5 million budget deficit over five years as it prepares to issue nearly $36 million of refunding and new-money debt in the near term.

After heated debate, New Jersey lawmakers Monday approved a $1.4 billion Transportation Trust Fund Authority debt restructuring deal that also includes new-money bonds.

A $1.4 billion New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority deal is caught in a political stalemate as the state’s Department of Transportation announced Friday it would halt all state-funded transportation projects until the Legislature approves the bond sale.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie picked former state Attorney General David Samson to replace Anthony Coscia on Thursday as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Public Financial Management Inc. will assist New Jersey in its plan to defease outstanding general obligation debt.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority approved up to $2.53 billion of new-money and refunding bonds Tuesday to help finance capital projects and generate potential debt-service savings.

Moody’s Investors Service changed New Jersey’s outlook to negative from stable, citing a structural deficit, the end of federal stimulus funds, and the state’s unfunded retirement costs.

Newark’s Municipal Council Tuesday afternoon granted its initial approval for a proposed real estate lease-back agreement to be financed with bonds.

New Jersey Treasurer Andrew Eristoff Thursday named Gov. Chris Christie’s pension and benefit reform initiative as among the state’s top fiscal priorities during a Municipal Forum of New York luncheon.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday unveiled pension and health care reform measures that would help curb the state’s unfunded liabilities while passing more of those costs on to employees.

New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow Thursday announced that JPMorgan will pay the state $1.1 million and buy back auction-rate securities from New Jersey investors to resolve allegations that the bank failed to disclose the risks involved with the ARS market.