Texas

DALLAS — The ­Harris County Houston Sports ­Authority moved closer to using insurance to cover bond payments after dipping into debt-service reserves for the first time this month.

DALLAS — Amid a flood of municipal issuance in the last six weeks of the year, the North Texas Tollway Authority will bring around $1.5 billion of debt to market, starting with nearly $500 million of tax-exempt refunding revenue bonds this week.

DALLAS — Bexar County, Tex., has earned an upgrade from Standard & Poor’s to A from A-minus on its venue project revenue bonds as it goes to market with $64 million of debt backed by tourism-related taxes.

DALLAS — The Texas Public Finance Authority approved plans Tuesday to issue more than $2 billion of revenue bonds to repay an advance from the U.S. Treasury Department for unemployment compensation.

DALLAS — Houston will take advantage of historically low interest rates with a $527 million deal divided between taxable and tax-exempt bonds that for the most part will refinance outstanding commercial paper.

The chief financial officer of the Houston Independent School District told trustees on Thursday to expect a severe reduction in state and federal funding over the next two fiscal years.

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines, which after its launch in 1971 built its entire business plan around Love Field, will issue $310 million of revenue bonds to expand operations at the historic Dallas airport.

DALLAS — The Dallas Independent School District will take $1.03 billion of bonds to market the week before Thanksgiving in a competitive sale that will exhaust more than $2.7 billion of total debt approved by voters in 2008 and 2002.

DALLAS — The fast-growing Round Rock Independent School District north of Austin is preparing to issue $104 million of debt, including $92 million of Build America Bonds, as Texas school districts face prospects for greater budget austerity.

DALLAS — Fitch Ratings downgraded Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to A-plus from AA-minus as it prepares to issue $301 million for its $2.7 billion terminal renovation program.

DALLAS — Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will issue the first $301 million of revenue bonds this week toward a $2 billion renovation of the original terminals that opened 36 years ago.

DALLAS — San Antonio’s CPS Energy is planning its fourth and largest issue of Build America Bonds on Thursday as it faces an Internal Revenue Service audit of a previous BAB deal.

DALLAS — The Texas economy received a vote of confidence Thursday in a special report from Standard & Poor’s, despite a growing budget shortfall in the coming year.

DALLAS — Former Houston Mayor Bill White, who is challenging Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the state’s top post, said Tuesday that appointees to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas improperly funneled investments toward the incumbent’s political contributors.

DALLAS — The battle lines are being drawn in Austin over the capital city’s request for $90 million of general obligation bonds for transportation as opponents ramp up efforts to defeat the proposition on Nov. 2.

DALLAS — The Lower Colorado River Authority in Central Texas anticipates savings of about 10% when it goes to market with $400 million of refunding revenue bonds Wednesday.

DALLAS — Opponents of a Dallas suburb’s plan to issue $200 million of revenue bonds for an entertainment complex have appealed a judge’s order to post a $10 million bond to continue the case.

Sales tax collections totaled $1.57 billion in the month of September, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said last week, which represents an increase of almost 7% from September 2009.

DALLAS — A nonprofit corporation responsible for heating and cooling 13 million square feet of space at the Texas ­Medical Center in Houston will issue $52 million of revenue bonds to keep pace with the growing campus.

DALLAS — Southern Methodist University will begin a multi-year capital project to build new on-campus residential facilities with proceeds from this week’s sale of $125 million of general obligation revenue bonds.