Northeast

Kimberly Betterton, a municipal bond and tax lawyer, has joined Ballard Spahr LLP in Baltimore, the firm announced Tuesday.

Robust December collections boosted Pennsylvania’s tax receipts to $191.2 million above budgeted estimates for the first half of fiscal 2011.

Pittsburgh's City Council late last week was expected to override a veto by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl of a bill that would raise fees on city-owned parking garages to fund pension costs.

In one of his final settlements as New York Attorney General, Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo last week announced an agreement with Steven Rattner, former principal of the private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC, in an investigation into a pay-to-play state pension fund scheme.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey last week recommended raising the roadbed of the Bayonne Bridge by 64 feet to provide more clearance for ships.

A New Hampshire legislative commission last week found that tobacco securitization was one option that could generate $60 million to monetize state assets in the current fiscal year, but it failed to garner enough support from members to be recommended.

A new elementary school is just one of the projects being financed with $77.4 million of bonds that the Maine Municipal Bond Bank plans to market this week.

After weeks of speculation, the board that monitors Nassau County, N.Y.'s fiscal condition did not take over its finances last week. Instead, the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority asked for additional budget information by Jan. 20 before it would take any action.

New York City on Tuesday continued to dig itself out from a snowstorm that dropped nearly 20 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. Sorting out the economic impact likely will take even longer. A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the rule of thumb is that every inch of snow costs $1 million to clean up.

New Jersey’s Treasury Department announced Thursday that the state and its municipalities have a combined unfunded pension liability of $53.9 billion, an increase in 2010 of more than $8 billion.