Texas

DALLAS — Analysts say that debt ratings for international toll bridges in Texas are bearing up under the stress of continuing drug violence in Mexico and recent traffic declines due to additional crossing points.

DALLAS — Houston is preparing to add a third professional stadium to the downtown area after the City Council approved plans Wednesday to build an $80 million home for the Dynamo professional soccer team.

DALLAS — If volume in January was any indication, it’s ­going to be a lean year for new issuance in the Southwest.

DALLAS — The Texas Senate’s proposed $158.7 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012 and 2013 is 15% lower than the current $187.5 billion budget but $2.3 billion more than the House’s two-year budget proposal.

DALLAS — For issuers who need it, bond insurance nowadays is very expensive, even if it is available. But local governments in Texas are still finding their way to market with state guarantees that offer low up-front costs and result in attractive long-term rates.

DALLAS — J. Kevin Ward, executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board, is leaving the agency after 22 years to become general manager of the Trinity River Authority.

DALLAS — Dallas is facing a revenue gap in fiscal 2012 of at least $41 million, city manager Mary Suhm said Wednesday at the City Council’s first briefing on next year’s budget.

The first outline of a spending plan from the Texas Legislative Budget Board calls for deep cuts in public education, programs for the needy, and criminal justice, while preserving a $9.4 billion rainy-day fund.

DALLAS — Trustees of the Socorro Independent School District may ask voters in May to approve a $297 million general obligation bond program to build new facilities for the fast-growing system in El Paso County, Texas.

DALLAS — Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will launch a seven-year project to remodel its four original ­terminals next month. But despite the $2.3 billion cost, officials do not expect 2011 to be a year of heavy bond issuance for new money.

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers will open their 2011 legislative session Tuesday with a projected budget gap of $27 billion under the revenue estimates from Comptroller Susan Combs.

DALLAS — The Austin Community College District will trim plans for its expansion into Hays County after losing a chance to issue Build America Bonds, officials said.

DALLAS — Travis County, Texas, commissioners said Tuesday they want to reduce a proposed road and parks bond package from $550 million to $200 million before asking voters to approve it.

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.