Pennsylvania

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $100 million of general obligation bonds that the Reading School District in Berks County, Pa., issued in 2005 to finance school construction and improvements.

For more than a year, Harrisburg’s incinerator facility and its heavy debt load have epitomized public finance gone wrong.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett Tuesday released a $27.3 billion spending plan that is $866 million smaller than the current-year budget and includes no new taxes or tax increases.

Sam Katz, a founder of Public Financial Management Inc., will serve on the board of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which reviews Philadelphia’s budgets and five-year fiscal plans.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett last week appointed six new commissioners to the board of the Delaware River Port Authority.

Gov. Tom Corbett has lifted a restriction on additional natural-gas drilling in Pennsylvania that could allow more extraction in the Marcellus Shale region.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are working on legislation that would enable public-private-partnerships to help finance transportation infrastructure needs throughout the state.

The Harrisburg Authority is pushing back against a Ba1 rating from Moody’s Investors Service on the authority’s $69.4 million of water bonds, calling the rating “fundamentally unfair.”

Pennsylvania collected $13.7 billion of revenue from July through January — $264 million, or 2% above budgeted estimates, with help from strong sales, personal income, and business taxes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will review bond-related documents that Harrisburg provides to investors.

Philadelphia International Airport plans a $5.2 billion expansion project that would include about $4.2 billion of borrowing to help finance an increase in capacity. Officials also would like to improve the facility’s on-time record, especially during bad weather.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell this week returned to Ballard Spahr LLP, where he will work on public-private partnership infrastructure developments, and energy and environmental issues.

A judge last week delayed to March 15 a hearing regarding a suit that could force Harrisburg to repay debt-service costs on $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt before meeting other expenses.

Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday downgraded $69.4 million of Harrisburg Authority water bonds to Ba1 from A1. The outlook is negative.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett took office Tuesday, pledging to reduce the size of government and implement fiscal restraint.

Harrisburg’s $56 million 2011 budget remained uncertain Friday afternoon as Mayor Linda Thompson continued to review the spending plan.

Harrisburg could receive a financial recovery plan by ­­mid-May as Pennsylvania ­Wednesday announced that Novak Consulting Group will head a team of advisers to work with city ­officials on a fiscal strategy.

Nancy Winkler, a long-time adviser at Public Financial Management Inc., will leave the private sector to become Philadelphia’s treasurer on Jan. 31.

Robust December collections boosted Pennsylvania’s tax receipts to $191.2 million above budgeted estimates for the first half of fiscal 2011.

Pittsburgh's City Council late last week was expected to override a veto by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl of a bill that would raise fees on city-owned parking garages to fund pension costs.