Southwest

LOS ANGELES - Fitch Ratings could cut bond ratings on the National Basketball Association, Los Angeles' Staples Center, and Denver's Pepsi Center if the NBA fails to reach an agreement with players and cancels the season.

The North Texas Tollway Authority last week approved the sale of bonds for Chisholm Trail Parkway in Fort Worth under the agency’s special projects system.

Gillespie County in central Texas has hired an Austin construction management firm to help it plan for an election in November 2012 for $10.5 million of general obligation bonds to build a new jail in Fredericksburg.

Oklahoma is losing $185 million to $225 million a year in sales tax revenues to online marketers, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission said last week in remarks to a legislative panel studying the state’s tax exemptions and exclusions.

Kansas revenues in September totaled $562 million, the Department of Revenue reported last week, marking the sixth consecutive month of higher revenues from the previous year.

Voters in Garland County will go to the polls Tuesday to decide on increasing the sales tax by 1% to build and operate a new $40 million county jail in Hot Springs.

Arkansas Lieut. Gov. Mark Darr said last week he opposes a proposal to raise the severance tax on natural gas production to help repair roads damaged by gas drilling activity.

DALLAS - As Austin begins mapping its next bond program, the triple-A Texas capital is taking advantage of low interest rates with a $93 million refunding this week.

DALLAS - Tax revenues that have rebounded to pre-recession levels will bring Texas' rainy-day fund to $7 billion by the time lawmakers begin development of the next two-year state budget.

DALLAS - Harris County, Texas, is seeking $484,000 through mediation with Morgan Stanley for alleged overpayment of fees after reaching a $659,000 settlement with UBS, officials said.