Ohio

University Hospitals, one of northeast Ohio's largest providers, is in talks to acquire stand-alone hospital Samaritan Regional Health.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is pushing lawmakers to continue to chop away at the state's income tax rate, offsetting the loss with an increase in so-called consumption taxes.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights two notches into junk territory a week after the state auditor declared a fiscal emergency and two months after the city missed payments on sewer loans to the state.

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.

Ohio Auditor David Yost has declared the city of Maple Heights to be in a state of financial emergency after the Cleveland suburb missed payments on sewer loans in January and showed deficits in its general and debt service funds.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich unveiled a two-year budget plan Monday that features income tax cuts offset in part with a big increase in taxes paid by the oil and gas producers in the state's burgeoning fracking industry.

Two veteran Ohio municipal bond traders who started in the business in the 1960s are retiring from Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., which will close its Ohio trading desk with the departures of Bob Perrier and Linda Erlandson.

The governors of Kentucky and Ohio plan to lower the $2.6 billion construction cost of the Brent Spence Bridge project in order to move the long-planned, bi-state venture forward.

After a series of downgrades and a federal court fight related to its mounting pension debt, Cincinnati has reached a pension deal that calls for the transfer of $200 million from its retiree health care fund.

Ohio will kick off the New Year with a pair of borrowings that will total $360 million, as the state is in the midst of a major tax overhaul that analysts warn could derail the state's structural balance.

Ohio-based American Municipal Power Inc. – the largest public owner of the bond-financed Prairie State Energy Campus – plans to refund up to $646 million of debt tied to the controversial project that has angered some local municipal participants over its higher energy costs.

Moody's Investors Service has revised Ohio-based Kenyon College's outlook to stable from negative on its A1 rating as the school's stronger performance in fiscal 2014 is expected to continue.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is selling $412 million of mostly new-money bonds Tuesday as part of a capital plan to upgrade its sewers to meet federal standards.

A federal judge has sentenced former Ohio deputy treasurer and Chicago comptroller Amer Ahmad to 15 years in prison for his role in kickback scandal involving state investment business at the Ohio treasurer’s office.

With a $29.5 million bond sale set for next week, University of Cincinnati is poised to become the first public university to tap into the increasingly popular market.

Cincinnati-based Dinsmore & Shohl LLP has hired public finance attorney Matthew Miller to bolster its Chicago office.

Ohio voters shot down 13 of 17 levy requests by school districts in the recent election, a series of defeats that Moody's Investors Service warns could mean pressure the fiscal positions of several of the districts.

Voters in Cleveland, Ohio Tuesday will weigh in on a $200 million bond issue that would replenish a 13-year old capital plan for one of the state's largest school districts.

Midwestern voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of a handful of finance-related ballot questions and the leadership of eight states, including several where debate over fiscal pressures is taking center stage.

Ohio has launched what officials say is a first-of-its-kind program that creates a new state-backed credit for local government note issuers.