Texas

DALLAS - Standard & Poor's on Tuesday downgraded $7.9 million of revenue bonds for a speculative West Texas jail to CC from A-minus after Jones County officials indicated plans to default on the debt if they cannot find a tenant for the facility.

Travis County commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday night to call a Nov. 8 election on a bond referendum totaling at least $194.3 million.

The North East Independent School District's citizens planning and advisory committee has recommended that the San Antonio district call a general obligation bond election in November.

Texas sales tax revenues totaled $1.86 billion in July, up 10.3% from collections in July 2010.

DALLAS - Last week's downgrade of the United States' credit by Standard & Poor's is a sign that "our nation is in trouble," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday in a speech in San Antonio to a national convention of 1,300 state legislators.

DALLAS - A lawsuit filed before the Texas Supreme Court seeks to strike down the state's tax on business, claiming it violates the constitution's prohibition on levying a personal income tax without voter approval.

DALLAS - A year before opening a $60 million stadium that has become a symbol of Texas' zeal for high school football, the Allen Independent School District is turning its attention to classrooms and the deepest budget cuts in state history, experts said.

DALLAS - Dwight D. Burns, former executive director of the Texas Public Finance Authority, has joined TKG & Associates LLC as a principal at the firm's Dallas office.

DALLAS - The South Texas town of Donna has become a growing crossroad for international business since the opening of the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge over the Rio Grande last December.

DALLAS - A majority of the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council backs a plan to study the parish's law enforcement needs and seek voter approval if a tax hike is needed to finance improvements.

DALLAS - With more than $1 billion of road and rail projects in the works, the Dallas suburb of Irving is pressing ahead with the nation’s largest transit-oriented development despite economic challenges.

A group of Austin business executives and lawyers have formally asked the state for $25 million of funds each year over the next 10 years to cover costs associated with a series of Formula 1 auto races at a track under construction in southeast Travis County.

DALLAS - The West Texas town of Littlefield raised $6 million to pay bond debt Thursday by auctioning a private prison that stood empty for nearly two years.

DALLAS - Amid uncertainty in the bond market and painful belt-tightening by the state, two large Texas school districts are issuing a combined $235 million of bonds to keep up with demands from growing populations.

Travis County voters would decide Nov. 8 on a $205.6 million general obligation bond program for roads and park projects if commissioners accept the recommendations presented last week by a citizens committee.

DALLAS - Debt issued by charter schools in Texas can be enhanced by the state's Permanent School Fund under a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Rick Perry.

DALLAS - The Central Texas Turnpike System, which operates three tollways in the Austin area, is counting on higher subsidies from the state after revenues fell $100 million short of covering debt and operating costs, officials said.

M.R. Beal & Co. has opened two new offices in Texas, tapping three executives from Sterne Agee in the process.

DALLAS - The Dallas Independent School District has halted bond-financed renovations and upgrades at eight schools due to lower-than-expected enrollment.

DALLAS - Houston on Tuesday priced $259 million of hotel occupancy-tax revenue bonds to refund variable-rate debt and a 2001 issue that carried Ambac Assurance Corp. insurance.