Southwest

Declining state support and flat enrollment prompted Moody's Investors Service to cast a negative outlook on Kansas State University's upcoming sale of $61.7 million of revenue bonds rated Aa2.

With some maturities oversubscribed by a factor of five, the North Texas Tollway Authority recorded net present value savings of nearly $90 million or 10% on an $866.5 million refunding, according to chief financial officer Horatio Porter.

Texas voters would get the final say on a Rep. John Otto's resolution passed overwhelmingly in the state House of Representatives to reduce the state's $44 billion of debt using excess revenue from the rainy day fund.

Cheniere Energy's $12 billion liquefied natural gas export plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, appears the likeliest to obtain financing as others are cancelled, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Citing worsening financial performance amid continuing drought, Moody's Investors Service lowered Wichita Falls, Texas's water and sewer debt two notches to A3 and retained a negative outlook.

Moody's Investors Service placed Beaumont Independent School District's underlying Baa1 rating on review for a possible downgrade, affecting $158.5 million of outstanding debt.

With traditional transportation funds running short, the North Texas Tollway Authority has become the de facto highway builder in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The flagship Dallas North Tollway is the spine of a system that extends into five counties. With about $6.3 billion of first-tier debt, NTTA carries ratings of A-minus from Standard & Poor's and A2 from Moody's Investors Service. About $1 billion of second-tier debt is rated a notch lower. Maintaining those ratings while managing explosive growth remains a constant challenge for the system.

The North Texas Tollway Authority expects to reduce its maximum annual debt service by $80 million with an $871 million refunding, chief financial officer Horatio Porter said.

A bill authorizing $1 billion of pension bonds for state retirees is on its way to Gov. Sam Brownback after winning approval in the Kansas Legislature.

The North Texas Tollway Authority is undergoing an Internal Revenue Service Examination of its 2009 variable-rate bonds as it prepares to refund $871 million of second-tier bonds, according to an addendum to the preliminary official statement.