Southwest

Mesa, Ariz. will finance extensive upgrades to its parks system if voters approve $70 million of general obligation bonds in November.

The Arizona Department of Transportation said it will complete a route study for a commuter rail line linking Phoenix and Tucson.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $110.4 million of communication system revenue bonds that were issued in 2007 by Lafayette, La. to finance startup costs of the city-owned utility that sells television, Internet and telephone services to residents.

The Texas Department of Transportation will leverage a $5.6 million federal grant to conduct a study of high-speed passenger rail along the Interstate 35 corridor between Laredo, Tex., and Oklahoma City.

Standard & Poor's removed New Mexico Finance Authority's AAA rating from watch list for a downgrade but maintains a negative outlook in the wake of a phony audit.

The Oklahoma Resources Water Board will finance its loan program for local governments with a negotiated sale of $85.3 million of triple-A rated revolving fund revenue bonds Oct. 23 and 24

Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit hospital operators in the nation, is issuing $252 million of taxable and tax-exempt revenue bonds to expand two Phoenix-area hospitals.

A citizens bond committee advising the Austin Independent School District identified $176.9 million of needed improvements to athletic facilities.

The end of a two-year Oklahoma energy tax credit hiatus is causing a lag in revenues from the state tax on natural gas production, Finance Director Preston Doerflinger said.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback may ask to defer a sales tax rate drop because of revenue losses expected from an income tax cut he championed.