Southwest

DALLAS — Arizona's Salt River Project Agricultural and Power District forecasts a 20% increase in debt to $5.3 billion by the end of fiscal 2016, even after reducing its capital program.

Travis County District Judge John Dietz said last week he intends to combine four lawsuits challenging Texas’ school finance laws into a single case. A fifth group of plaintiffs will be included as interveners in one of them.

The Dallas City Council last week approved a request by Uplift Education for up to $90 million of tax-exempt bonds to build new charter public schools in Dallas and Fort Worth.

The first monthly revenues from the 1% increase in Little Rock’s sales tax rate approved last year by voters totaled $3.4 million, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said last week.

Standard & Poor’s last week lowered Surprise, Ariz.’s issuer rating to A from AA and assigned a negative outlook.

DALLAS — Standard & Poor's has lowered its rating on the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority's revenue bonds one notch to AA-plus with a stable outlook.

DALLAS — Little Rock voters will be asked to extend an existing property tax to support $105 million of general obligation bonds for public works projects under a plan outlined Tuesday by Mayor Mark Stodola.

DALLAS — The Arizona Board of Regents on Tuesday priced $123 million of bonds for the University of Arizona in one of the largest deals of the year from the state.

DALLAS — A $500 million general obligation bond package going to Dallas voters this fall will do little to whittle down the city's $4.4 billion of needed street repairs and reconstruction.

DALLAS — The Austin Community College District plans to price $44.4 million of lease-revenue bonds to build its first campus in suburban Hays County after a Texas Supreme Court victory cleared a path to the market.