Midwest

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded the Piatt County Building Commission’s lease revenue rating one level to Aa3 due to its high reliance on corporate-replacement tax revenue, which declined by 30% between fiscal 2008 and 2010.

Illinois pension contributions and the repayment of pension-related debt will rise by $562 million in fiscal 2012 to $6.4 billion, according to an audit from state auditor general William Holland.

CHICAGO — In a deal brokered by federal authorities, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and officials from American Airlines and United Airlines announced an agreement Monday that allows the city to begin work on $1.17 billion worth of a remaining $3.36 billion of expansion projects at O’Hare International Airport.

CHICAGO — Minneapolis Tuesday will take competitive bids on $105 million of tax-exempt and taxable general obligation refunding bonds in an offering officials are hoping will attract strong interest from investors, given the rarity of its high-grade paper and the deal’s size and noncallable structure.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Las Vegas Monorail Co. bondholder Eaton Vance has broken with other large holders of the bankrupt project’s debt to challenge the settlement that trustee Wells Fargo Bank NA negotiated with Wisconsin state regulators to commute the monorail’s bond insurance policy.

CHICAGO — The Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System, a small A-plus-rated provider in southern Illinois, began planning a $45 million bond issue early last fall. But after months of watching interest rates climb in the public market, the hospital decided to privately place the debt with a bank.

CHICAGO — Illinois’ tax revenues are on the rise, fueled by a recovering economy and an income-tax increase. But the state is still grappling with high unemployment even as exports rise and the non-manufacturing sector expands, according to a nonpartisan legislative commission’s new revenue and economic forecast.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was expected to quickly sign a controversial bill that sharply curtails the collective bargaining rights of most public employee unions and requires government employees to pay more towards their health care premiums and pensions.

CHICAGO — Michigan is set to enact a controversial law that expands state power over fiscally stressed local governments and gives emergency managers broader authority, including the ability to terminate labor contracts.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis will head to market next week with $98 million of debt that taps the Midwestern disaster-area bond program to finance a new private development to benefit Eli Lilly and Co. — a project officials say will transform the city’s central downtown business district.