Ohio

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook to negative from stable on Akron’s limited-tax general obligation debt, income tax debt, and certificates of participation. It also affirmed its AA-minus rating on the limited-tax GO debt, its A-plus rating on the income tax bonds, and its A rating on the COPs.

Cuyahoga County commissioners last week approved a proposal to sell $181 million of bonds, $130 million to finance construction of a juvenile justice center and about $50 million other projects.

Fitch Ratings this week downgraded its rating to BBB-minus from BBB-plus on the Summit County Port Authority bond fund’s outstanding $40.2 million of revenue bonds. The debt remains on negative negative at the lower rating.

CHICAGO — Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital today will begin pricing $100 million of fixed-rate revenue bonds to finance a chunk of its $800 million, six-year capital plan.

Four Ohio state legislators last week introduced a package of bills that would place a constitutional amendment on the May ballot allowing communities to opt out of having a casino established in their region.

Moody’s Investors Service last week placed its A1 issuer credit rating for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati on watch list for possible downgrade as the system undergoes changes in its corporate structure.

WASHINGTON — Alliance, Ohio, disclosed last week that the Internal Revenue Service has concluded an audit of $50 million of hospital revenue bonds it issued in 2003 with no change to the tax-exempt status.

CHICAGO — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing the three major rating agencies of colluding with banks and issuers of mortgage-backed securities by inflating ratings on the debt, leading to major market losses for investors like Ohio’s pension and retirement funds.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings this week downgraded $572 million of sales tax-backed debt issued by Hamilton County, Ohio, as it faces a steep decline in the revenue source that funds general operations and its two major sports stadiums.

CHICAGO — Ohio-based public power provider American Municipal Power Inc. today will price $605 million of revenue bonds — the bulk of which are taxable Build America Bonds — to raise funds for the first stage of construction of a trio of hydroelectric plants along the Ohio River.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 rating on Southwest General Health Center, located in the Cleveland suburb of Middleburg Heights, and revised its outlook to stable from negative after the center reported three years of improved operating results.

In the latest episode in the years-long effort to build a $425 million medical mart in Cleveland, the firm that plans to build the center has proposed a new downtown location, a move that “stunned” local politicians, according to reports.

CHICAGO — Cleveland is considering imposing new taxes, requiring the city’s hospitals and other nonprofit organizations to pay an annual fee, and selling or leasing its cemeteries as part of an effort to shore up its fiscal position.

CHICAGO — Voters in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan were in the mood to say yes Tuesday, approving bond issues for a new hospital in Indianapolis, a capital improvement plan for Detroit Public Schools, and a measure allowing casinos to set up shop in Ohio’s four largest cities.

CHICAGO — Columbus, Ohio, will begin taking retail orders today on $279 million of general obligation debt in a transaction that features five series, including the city’s first Build America Bonds and recovery zone economic development bonds.

Midwestern voters head to the polls tomorrow to cast decisions on elected offices, new casinos, and more than 125 ballot questions that would authorize more than $3.3 billion worth of borrowing, led by Detroit Public Schools' $500 million request and $750 million for a new public hospital in Indiana.

CHICAGO — The Sierra Club of Ohio is ramping up its efforts to prevent ­American Municipal Power Inc. from building a new $3.9 billion coal-fired plant in Ohio.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Lorain County’s limited-tax general obligation debt one notch to AA-minus and the Lorain County Port Authority’s 2003A bonds — which are secured by the county’s pledge of non-ad-valorem tax revenues — to A-plus from AA-minus.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the Dayton City School District’s $219 million of outstanding general obligation debt to A3 from A2 and revised the outlook to stable from negative. It also downgraded the district’s $15.4 million of outstanding certificates of participation to Baa1 from A3.

Moody’s Investors Service last week upgraded to A1 from A2 the Cuyahoga Falls City School District’s general obligation debt.