Texas

Texas will sell $155 million of general obligation bonds for water projects on Sept. 11 as the Internal Revenue Service conducts a routine audit of a 2002 deal.

An increase in Lubbock County's property tax rate will allow the West Texas county to cope with financial and political problems if President Obama is re-elected in November, Judge Tom Head said Wednesday.

While state debt per capita is lower in Texas than most, local government debt runs higher than that of other states by a large margin amid growing demand for infrastructure, state comptroller Susan Combs said.

Trustees of Midland Independent School District, Texas will consider a long-range plan to build three new high schools designed to accommodate 2,100 students each.

The El Paso City put on the November ballot a plan to issue $468 million of general obligation bonds and to increase the city’s hotel tax by 2% to finance a baseball stadium.

Texas cities, counties and schools are placing nearly $4 billion of bonds on the November ballot that will decide the presidential and statewide elections. Voters' moods are a concern.

Texas will issue $9.8 billion of tax and revenue anticipation notes to smooth cash flows for schools as the economy recovers. The note offering is 4.9% less than the prior year's, but still the state's second largest.

Rapid growth of wind farms in sparsely populated West Texas is a mixed blessing for school districts that have become "property wealthy" under the state's education funding formula, according to a report from Standard & Poor's.

Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport begins a series of refundings that is expected to total nearly $1 billion, following a successful new-money AMT deal.

Houston Community College System Trustees approved a $425 million bond referendum.

San Antonio police found no wrongdoing after investigating allegations against the firm that manages the bond program of Harlandale Independent School District.

The Austin City Council split 3 to 3 last week on whether to approve a general obligation bond referendum in November of $385 million or to ask for $400 million instead.

Tempe, Ariz., brought in $81.9 million from the local sales tax in fiscal 2012, the first time annual sales tax revenues topped $80 million since fiscal 2007.

Voters will consider the largest school bond issues in Texas history after the Houston Independent School District board of trustees agreed to place $1.9 billion on the November ballot.

The Ector County, Texas, Independent School District is preparing a $129.8 million bond referendum for November. The district, which serves the city of Odessa, is experiencing population growth from oil and gas activity in the energy-rich Permian Basin.

The YMCA of Greater Houston is in danger of losing its investment-grade rating from Moody's Investors Service due to terms in a letter of credit from Bank of America, analysts said.

El Paso will buy downtown office space with certificates of obligation as City Hall is demolished to make way for a new debt-financed minor league baseball stadium.

Travis County, Texas, voters should vote in November to raise the hospital district's property tax rate by 5 cents to support construction of a new medical school in Austin, state Sen. Kirk Watson said Monday.

Travis County, Tex., should issue certificates of obligation to finance its share of a $343 million courthouse in Austin under a public-private partnership, according to a committee appointed to study the matter.

Amid one of the largest redevelopment projects in its history, Fort Worth, Tex., will go to market with $257 million of debt for new money and refunding as the city's economy steadily improves.