Southwest

DALLAS - Houston on Tuesday priced $259 million of hotel occupancy-tax revenue bonds to refund variable-rate debt and a 2001 issue that carried Ambac Assurance Corp. insurance.

DALLAS - The Texas Water Development Board could have up to $6 billion of outstanding bonds that finance projects across the state if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment on Nov. 18.

DALLAS - As Texas and other states seek to lower prison expenses, local governments that invested in private lockups are bearing the costs of lower incarceration rates.

DALLAS - After pricing $347 million of general obligation bonds for expansion of state facilities Monday, Texas is preparing another $300 million of taxable debt for its Cancer Prevention Research Institute next week.

Oklahoma will transfer $219 million into its rainy-day fund, which had dropped to a mere $2.03 — the largest deposit into the reserve fund since the end of fiscal 2005.

Commissioners of Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City next week will consider a proposal to increase the property tax rate by 8.9% to generate $117.5 million for the city and $4.9 million for county operations.

The Kansas State Board of Education will ask lawmakers next year to fund state aid to local school districts at the full $4,492 per-student stipend as required by current state law.

The Arkansas lottery generated $94.2 million for scholarships at state colleges and universities from sales of $465 million in fiscal 2011, up from $82 million of earnings and $383 million of sales in fiscal 2010.

Little Rock city directors voted last week to put a 1% sales-tax rate increase on the Sept. 13 ballot to finance capital improvements and various city operations.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service this week said it views positively recent court rulings in Colorado and Minnesota dismissing litigation that challenged legislative cuts to retirees' pension cost-of-living increases, and expects the rulings will spur other states to act.