Texas

DALLAS — Texas higher education institutions could issue up to $3.2 billion in tuition-backed revenue bonds under a bill introduced for the legislative session that begins next week.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $130.96 million of consolidated revenue bonds issued in September 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System to finance the acquisition, construction, and renovation of facilities.

DALLAS — Travis County, Tex., commissioners are expected to ask voters in November for up to $300 million of general obligation bonds to finance a new courthouse in downtown Austin.

Two years after Hurricane Ike devastated the tourism-oriented island of Galveston, the Texas city of the same name is making a steady comeback, despite the added burden of a deep recession. The city's improving fortunes are reflected in last week's Standard & Poor's upgrade to A with a positive outlook from BBB with a stable outlook on its general obligation debt.

The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority last week reached a settlement with CAF USA Inc., over two disputed contracts for the construction of light-rail cars for its North and Southeast Corridor lines.

DALLAS — The Dallas suburb of ­Irving could issue up to $250 million of bonds for a new entertainment center within two months if a judge’s ruling stands, Mayor Herbert Gears said.

With the year-end deadline approaching, Houston this week will refund $94 million of private-activity bonds for its airport system with variable-rate debt to gain exemption from federal alternative-minimum tax provisions.

DALLAS — When the Texas Legislature convenes in January, the top priority is expected to be the estimated $25 billion budget shortfall and ongoing problems with education funding.

DALLAS — The Texas attorney general’s office filed papers in a Dallas County state district court Wednesday rejecting the effort by Irving to divert state taxes to support city bonds for a $250 million entertainment complex in the Dallas suburb.

Trustees of the Austin Community College District were expected on Tuesday night to approve a truncated sale of $33.5 million of Build America Bonds to build a campus that will serve a new area that joined the district in November.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is restructuring its management in the wake of a funding controversy involving light-rail expansion in the Houston area.

DALLAS — Just seven weeks after voters approved a record $515 million bond package, the San Antonio Independent School District is ready to price the first $150 million Tuesday.

DALLAS — Top Texas leaders have asked state agencies to cut their fiscal 2011 budgets by 2.5% due to lower-than-expected revenue during the first year of the state’s current two-year budget cycle.

San Antonio this week plans to price $101 million of airport revenue bonds with an increasingly unusual feature — bond insurance.

A report by two state agencies determined that if Texas withdrew from the Medicaid health care program, it would cost the state $15 billion a year in federal funds.

Houston finance director Michelle Mitchell resigned last week, saying she wanted to re-enter the private sector after four years with the largest city in Texas.

A proposed bond-financed entertainment complex in Irving, Tex,, won't generate sufficient revenue to support the debt on the facility, according to a new financial study by opponents of the project.

DALLAS — Transportation officials are considering funding options for a $4.4 billion expansion of Interstate 35E between Dallas and Denton that could be the largest of several major projects in the area.

DALLAS – Dallas and the Tarrant Regional Water District will share financing on a $1.6 billion pipeline that will carry water 149 miles from Lake Palestine in East Texas.

DALLAS — Under pressure to issue bonds before the end of the year for a $250 million entertainment center amid falling revenue, Irving, Tex., now faces an investigation into questionable expenses by the city’s private partner on the project.