Southeast

The Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of about $300 million of Series A special tax bonds issued by the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority in 2003 to help finance a convention center expansion.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Kentucky Turnpike Authority Wednesday expects to conclude a two-day pricing of $112.6 million of new and refunding revenue bonds.

WASHINGTON — A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the restructuring and reorganization of the debt of the Connector 2000 Association, a beleaguered toll road operator in Greenville, S.C.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are moving forward to consolidate three toll-road authorities in a revised plan that now excludes the financially ailing Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority, which appears headed for a bond payment default this year.

WASHINGTON — A South Carolina bankruptcy judge held a hearing Friday to consider the restructuring plan for the Connector 2000 Association Inc., the bankrupt South Carolina toll road operator, setting up the issuer’s exit from bankruptcy after years of uncertainty for bondholders.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Delta Air Lines Inc.’s 25% service reduction at Memphis International Airport could be a harbinger of future cutbacks at the Tennessee hub and other airports as carriers respond to sharply increasing fuel prices, according to rating agency analysts.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $38.77 million of defaulted special assessment bonds that were sold in 2005 by the Aberdeen Community Development District in Florida to finance infrastructure for a residential community.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida Senate transportation committee is entertaining a proposal to merge four expressway and bridge authorities with outstanding debt into Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise.

Jefferson County will not ask the Alabama Supreme Court for a rehearing on its occupational tax ruling, the Birmingham News reported Tuesday.

A federal trial challenging Alabama’s school-funding formula started Monday in Huntsville before Judge Lynwood Smith. The suit was filed two years ago by parents in rural north Alabama counties who claim that state funding for the public education system is based on a discriminatory formula that includes the lowest property-tax rate in the country.