Wisconsin

CHICAGO — Repayment of $46.6 million of taxable tribal gaming revenue bonds issued for the Lac du Flambeau tribe in Wisconsin is in the hands of a federal appellate panel after lawyers for the tribe and bondholders laid out their arguments in a dispute over whether the trust indenture required federal approval.

CHICAGO — Midwestern voters next week go to the polls to decide the fate of $2.16 billion worth of borrowing requests, choose new governors, and decide spending and taxing measures.

CHICAGO — Minnesota will competitively sell $291 million of water-related state revolving fund bonds Tuesday, followed closely by a $164 million clean water issue from neighboring Wisconsin, as both seek to tap the Build America Bond program ahead of its expiration this year.

CHICAGO — Dane County — home to Wisconsin’s capital city of Madison — lost its AAA general obligation rating from Fitch Ratings as it grapples with operating deficits that city officials hope to reverse next year.

Moody’s Investors Service said the proposed rehabilitation plan to deal with Ambac Assurance Corp.’s segregated account of high-risk insured assets is a credit positive and, if confirmed by the courts, will put the Wisconsin-domiciled bond insurer “one step closer to an orderly run-off.”

Wisconsin insurance commissioner Sean Dilweg Friday announced a rehabilitation plan for the riskiest assets — mostly mortgage-backed securities — insured by Ambac Assurance Corp. The plan aims to fairly compensate holders of the risky assets without depleting the insurer of its ability to pay other future claims, including insured municipal bonds.

CHICAGO — Milwaukee will competitively sell $225 million of revenue anticipation notes Tuesday on behalf of Milwaukee Public Schools to help it manage its cash flow.

CHICAGO — Triple-A rated Madison, Wis., today will competitively price $110.7 million of debt that features five series, most of which are taxable general obligation promissory notes.

CHICAGO — Investors who hold $23 million of defaulted steam-plant bond anticipation notes, which the city of Menasha put its appropriation pledge behind, warned in their latest court filing that the municipal world is following their federal lawsuit and their claims the Wisconsin city misled potential investors.

Moody's Investor's Service last week lowered Whitefish Bay School District one notch to Aa3 and assigned a stable outlook following the district board's decision to renege on its moral obligation pledge to repay asset-backed notes issued by its non-pension retiree health care trust.

Wisconsin today will competitively sell $456 million of tax-exempt general obligation debt and taxable Build America Bonds, marking its first chance to benefit from a change in state law allowing the capital finance department to drop purchase-price limits on GO issues.

Representatives of Menasha, Wis., and holders of $23 million of defaulted steam-plant bond anticipation revenue notes failed to reach an agreement during a mediation session earlier this month but will try again in September, officials said.

CHICAGO — Midwestern bond issuance leaped by 32.5% to $39.8 billion for the first six months of the year, due primarily to Illinois’ borrowing spree to finance its $31 billion capital program and its use of debt for budgetary relief.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service this week lowered Kimberly Area School District’s general obligation debt one notch to Aa3, making it the third district to suffer a downgrade after reneging on a moral obligation pledge to repay asset-backed notes issued by their non-pension retiree health care trusts.

CHICAGO — All five southeastern Wisconsin school districts involved in a failed investment scheme tied to funding their non-pension retiree health care trusts are reneging on their moral obligation pledge to repay asset-backed notes issued by the trusts and sold to Depfa Bank Plc.

Wisconsin insurance commissioner Sean Dilweg has formed a nine-person council of advisers to support his efforts to rehabilitate Ambac Assurance Corp.

CHICAGO — A Wisconsin Supreme Court decision overturning the state diversion of $200 million from a medical malpractice fund will force a new round of budget cuts, Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration said Tuesday.

CHICAGO — A federal court ruling that lets the Lac du Flambeau tribe off the hook for repayment of $46.6 million of tribal gaming revenue bonds could harm the municipal market as a whole because the ruling undercuts investor rights in bond indentures and confidence in disclosure, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts warns.

CHICAGO — The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a review of a failed investment by five southeastern Wisconsin school districts in collateralized debt obligations that were intended to establish trusts to pay the districts’ non-pension retiree health care benefits.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin will competitively sell $800 million of one-year operating notes tomorrow and is gearing up to issue about $200 million of new-money transportation revenue bonds next month, while a planned general obligation refunding remains on hold.