Vermont

The state of Vermont is expected to bring to market a four-series $135.6 million general obligation offering next week in two parts.

Vermont is triple-A rated, and state auditor Tom Salmon wants to keep it that way — even if a tropical storm named Irene created havoc.

The Vermont Municipal Bond Bank refinanced debt through two series that it said helped 53 municipalities and school districts save nearly $6 million in future debt service payments.

Former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, who also served as treasurer, called for reviving a bond program to help residents pay for the massive infrastructure damage sustained when Tropical Storm Irene belted the state in late August.

The Vermont treasurer's office recently accepted $282,056 in unclaimed property as a result of a breakthrough agreement with national insurance giant John Hancock.

The initial cleanup and stabilization of Vermont’s state office complex in Waterbury will cost $20 million to $25 million in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, officials said.

Gov. Peter Shumlin and other Vermont officials outlined a plan to make short- and long-term financing available to towns damaged by Hurricane Irene.

A website devoted to open government in Vermont has additional information about state contractor expenses.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the A3 rating for Burlington, Vt.’s $63.2 million of general obligation bonds, while maintaining a negative outlook.

Treasurer Elizabeth Pearce and Gov. Peter Shumlin favor expanding Vermont's rainy-day fund to 8% from 5%. Vermont is among only 15 states with a triple-A rating from the three major rating agencies.

Fitch Ratings placed all outstanding notes of the Vermont Student Assistance Corp. 1995 bond resolution on negative rating watch.

Standard & Poor’s raised its rating on the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s multifamily mortgage bonds to A-plus from BBB-plus.

Preliminary general fund revenues for fiscal 2011 were $1.15 billion or about $34 million ahead of target, Vermont Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding announced.

The Vermont Student Loan Assistance Corp., which has been in discussions with the Internal Revenue Service to settle a tax law dispute over $165 million of auction-rate securities it sold in 1998, disclosed that the IRS is expanding its audit to include more of the issuer’s ARS.

Vermont expects to finish its fiscal year ahead of its revenue target by about $20 million, according to Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding.

When Burlington several years ago set out to build a municipal telecom network, it envisioned a self-sustaining system providing fiber-optic internet service to residents, business, and government in Vermont’s most populous city.

Vermont will market $20 million of tax-exempt general obligation bonds on Thursday in increments of $1,000 with state residents and businesses getting priority. Investors will have to place orders with a registered broker-dealer.

Vermont last week centralized its allocations of recovery zone facility bonds to be issued through a state authority rather than by individual counties, Gov. James Douglas announced. The federal government allocated $135 million of bonding authority under the program to eleven counties in the state.