South Carolina

Richland County, S.C., council members are poised to try to ask voters for the second time in two years to approve a 1-cent, 20-year sales tax to finance nearly $940 million in transit and road projects.

U.S. Bank NA on Tuesday notified holders of the Connector 2000 Association Inc.’s 2011 toll revenue term bonds that an exchange of bonds will take place around May 31.

BRADENTON, Fla. — South Carolina federal bankruptcy Judge David Duncan last week approved a plan allowing investors who want to trade their Connector 2000 Association term bonds to exchange them.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The South Carolina Public Service Authority Tuesday prices $575 million of tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds, much of which will further work on two new nuclear units cleared for licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week.

Investors holding term bonds exchanged last year as part of the Connector 2000 Association bankruptcy must exchange them a second time after the bonds they received proved to be untradeable for technical reasons.

As of Jan. 1, the consulting firm Wilbur Smith Associates no longer exists in name, and its headquarters have moved from Columbia, S.C., to Cambridge, Mass.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is suffering from an extreme cash-flow problem, but Gov. Nikki Haley has said she opposes raising the state gasoline tax as a solution.

Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday upgraded the Georgetown County School District’s general obligation rating to Aa3 from A1, affecting $97.2 million of outstanding GOs.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Charleston County, S.C., Wednesday received its third gilt-edged rating, this time from Fitch Ratings, which cited the coastal county's strong finances and diversity in job growth despite the recession.

Standard & Poor’s last week upgraded Greenville’s general obligation bond rating to AAA from AA-plus. The agency also raised the city’s limited obligation bond rating to AA from AA-minus. The outlook is stable.

WASHINGTON - An investor holding bonds wrapped with insurance from ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. has filed a lawsuit against the moribund insurer, which says it is no longer obligated to pay insurance claims related to the bonds following the issuer’s Chapter 9 restructuring agreement.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Connector 2000 Association Inc. was expected to begin the exchange of restructured bonds on Monday as part of the South Carolina toll road operator’s bankruptcy plan, which went into effect last week.

WASHINGTON — A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the restructuring and reorganization of the debt of the Connector 2000 Association, a beleaguered toll road operator in Greenville, S.C.

WASHINGTON — A South Carolina bankruptcy judge held a hearing Friday to consider the restructuring plan for the Connector 2000 Association Inc., the bankrupt South Carolina toll road operator, setting up the issuer’s exit from bankruptcy after years of uncertainty for bondholders.

Lexington County School District No. 1 expects to competitively sell $35.9 million of qualified school construction bonds Thursday.

The Connector 2000 Association Inc., a beleaguered Greenville, S.C., toll road operator that a year ago defaulted on $329 million of bonds, needs bondholders to approve a tentative restructuring plan to exit bankruptcy.

WASHINGTON — South Carolina expects to competitively issue $342.7 million of refunding bonds and $126.2 million of general obligation bonds for four higher education institutions this week.

Investors who own bonds issued by the bankrupt Connector 2000 Association Inc. toll road have tentatively reached an agreement with the issuer and South Carolina to exchange their outstanding debt for new bonds.

The Spartanburg Regional Health System was downgraded last week to A-plus from AA-minus by Fitch Ratings as a new facility has failed to fill beds as anticipated.

WASHINGTON — The South Carolina Public Service Authority, the state’s largest issuer in 2009, expects to sell $300 million of Build America Bonds Tuesday for a nuclear power plant expansion, as the agency continues a transition away from coal power.