Texas

DALLAS — After successfully pricing $825 million of revenue bonds Monday to expand its light-rail system, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board turned its attention Tuesday to a $1.26 billion budget requiring job cuts and service reductions.

DALLAS — Dallas County District Judge Craig Smith agreed Monday to a one-week delay in deciding whether the Dallas suburb of Irving can issue up to $200 million of revenue bonds for an entertainment center near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

DALLAS — In a year when Texas school districts are celebrating record-low interest rates and the return of the triple-A bond guarantee from the Permanent School Fund, officials are contemplating voters’ appetite for new debt.

DALLAS — The chief financial officer of Dallas Area Rapid Transit said Monday that he is unconcerned by the effect of a downgrade by one of the major rating agencies on the upcoming sale of $825 million of revenue bonds supported by anemic sales tax income.

DALLAS — Dallas Area Rapid Transit lost its AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s Friday as analysts assigned DART’s upcoming $825 million bond deal a AA-plus.

DALLAS — Dallas Area Rapid Transit will issue $825 million of bonds supported by sales tax and farebox revenue next week under a resolution adopted Tuesday by the DART finance committee.

DALLAS — Harris County, Tex., is bringing $140 million of toll road refunding bonds to a market that appears ready to reward issuers bearing strong credit ratings.

DALLAS — The University of Texas System is preparing to price $631 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds Tuesday, including $430 million for a new UT Southwestern Medical School hospital in Dallas.

DALLAS — Texas sales tax revenues in fiscal 2010 were $1.5 billion less than expected in the official forecast, putting in doubt the projections for collections of $44.3 billion over the two-year state budget cycle.

DALLAS — Houston’s transportation authority, Metro, faces delays and growing costs on a $1.5 billion light-rail expansion after its purchase of 103 rail cars from a Spanish manufacturer was found to violate federal law.

DALLAS — Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday cut its rating on the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority’s junior-lien and third-lien debt to junk, dimming hopes of refinancing any of the agency’s $988 million debt.

DALLAS — Texas’ record budget shortfall is becoming a political issue as Democrats accuse Republican Comptroller Susan Combs of withholding accurate estimates ahead of the November elections.

DALLAS — Less than two months after a record $1.5 billion deal, the Texas Transportation Commission is preparing another $1 billion issue of general obligation bonds.

With soaring demand for top-rated, tax-exempt munis, Harris County, Tex., expects strong results Tuesday in its pricing of $205 million of tax-backed refunding bonds, according to the county's financial services director.

The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, the builder of three professional sports stadiums, could default on some of its $988 million of debt as early as March 2011, according to calculations by Moody's Investors Service.

Corpus Christi Independent School District will build two new schools if voters sign off on a $125 million general obligation bond referendum on Nov. 2.

DALLAS — The Katy Independent School District in Texas is seeking voter approval of a $459.7 million general obligation bond package that would finance construction of five new schools to accommodate its rapidly growing enrollment.

DALLAS — The Lubbock Independent School District will embark on a four-phase capital improvement program if voters approve a $198 million bond program developed by a citizens’ committee.

DALLAS — The Judson Independent School District in Texas will allow voters on Nov. 2 to choose among separate components of a $198.8 million general obligation bond package.

DALLAS — After scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service over a previous issue of Build America Bonds, Austin is forgoing BABs in its sale of $145 million of general obligation debt this week.