Texas

Valero Energy Corp. said last week it would not appeal Texas’ rejection of its request for a property-tax exemption on refinery equipment.

Texas sales tax revenues totaled $1.98 billion in December, an increase of 9.5% from December 2010 and the 21st consecutive month of collection increases.

Dallas voters can expect a November election for a general obligation bond package of up to $550 million that was outlined Wednesday to the City Council.

Amid the biggest building binge in its history, the North Texas Tollway Authority ranked as the top debt issuer in the Southwest in 2011, with more than $2.1 billion sold, according to Thomson Reuters.

The Plano Independent School District faces a new year of litigation over Texas' school funding law after surviving a year of unprecedented austerity.

The Texas State Securities Board has named John Morgan as the new state securities commissioner.

The North Texas Tollway Authority board has agreed to pay legal fees for board member David Denison, who is involved in an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A federal indictment of former El Paso County, Texas, Judge Anthony Cobos implicates financial advisor Coastal Securities in a fraud scheme surrounding a $40 million bond refunding in 2007.

The Texas Tech University System will get the Southwest bond market rolling with $198 million of revenue bonds after a lean year for higher education.

A coalition of 63 Texas school districts, including some of the largest in the state, filed a lawsuit Dec. 22 contending the current system for financing public education is unconstitutional.

A Texas oversight agency has turned down an oil refinery's request for a tax break that could have cost local governments and school districts millions of dollars in refunds and lost property tax revenue.

Austin's 15-member bond advisory committee will meet in early January to begin trimming an initial $1.3 billion project list for a general obligation bond package expected to go to city voters next November.

A forecast released last week by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs predicts that an expanding economy will generate an unexpected $1.6 billion for state coffers over the next two years.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded a design-build contract for the final segment in its $1.5 billion Orange Line project that will connect Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to the DART light-rail network, officials said.

A third lawsuit seeking to overturn Texas' system for financing public education was filed Tuesday in a Travis County state district court in Austin.

Texas state sales tax collections in November totaled $2.07 billion, up 12.2% from November 2010, and the 20th consecutive month of increased revenues.

Irving will make an unofficial commitment this week of $170 million of revenue bonds to help pay for a proposed entertainment complex despite warnings that the new debt could affect the Dallas suburb’s bond rating.

With trading active on much of bankrupt American Airlines' $3.2 billion of special facilities revenue bonds, some market participants are sounding a cautionary tone in assessing their value, as bargain hunters eye the airline's discounted bonds secured by collateral.

Amid fears of rolling blackouts in Texas next summer, new municipal debt for electric power generation in the state has fallen sharply because of financing constraints and environmental litigation.

The Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority will receive $900 million in federal grants under agreements signed last week by Peter Rogoff, director of the Federal Transit Administration, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker.