Southeast

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.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s new Water Supply Task Force began mapping a strategy on Monday for the use of $300 million of bonds to help finance critical drinking facilities in the state.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam proposed a $32 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012 that is down 5.6% from the current year and largely reflects a 14.7% drop in federal funds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — As Miami-Dade County prepares for a $361 million general obligation bond sale near the end of the month, Florida’s largest county is undergoing a top-down shake-up of government.

DALLAS — The Louisiana State Bond Commission approved a staff report Thursday that set the par amount of net state tax-supported debt at $5.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2010.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Alabama Supreme Court Wednesday struck down an occupational tax that provided one-third of Jefferson County’s general fund revenues, potentially setting the stage for the county to file for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history.