Southwest

Standard & Poor's downgraded the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation one notch to the lowest investment-grade rating of BBB-minus, citing ongoing budget shortfalls and management problems.

The Texas Charter School Association filed a lawsuit June 26 contending that the state formula for funding public education violates the Texas Constitution.

The IRS has preliminarily determined that $147.18 million of revenue refunding bonds issued by the City of Houston Higher Education Finance Corporation in 2006 are not tax-exempt.

El Paso City Council voted Tuesday to raze City Hall and build a 9,000-seat minor league ballpark on the downtown site.

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett on Tuesday rejected petitions signed by more than 290,000 voters calling for a Nov. 6 vote to continue a 1-cent sales tax that expires in May.

Texas A&M University System Board of Regents will complete a $196 million issue of Permanent University Fund bonds Tuesday with a $71 million refunding expected to provide net present value savings of 13.4%, or $10.7 million.

Texas State Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, said last week he is concerned the quasi-governmental Texas Windstorm Insurance Association might not have the money needed to pay damages if a large hurricane hits the Gulf of Mexico coast this year.

Shawnee County Unified School District No. 450, Kan., may ask voters in November for a $13 million general obligation bond package.

Pulaski County School District No. 1 will ask Arkansas officials to approve a $266 million facilities improvement plan financed primarily with $200 million of school construction bonds.

A campaign to make permanent Arizona's 1% sales tax may be derailed by a discrepancy between the official version of the ballot language and the petitions being circulated to put the initiative on the November ballot.