Southwest

Peck, Shaffer & Williams, a leading national public finance law firm, has named former Lathrop & Gage attorney Bob Coyne as a partner in its Denver office.

DALLAS - Colorado's Regional Transportation District has received confirmation of a $1.03 billion federal grant that is a key element in financing its $6.7 billion FasTracks program.

DALLAS - Oklahoma put $249.2 million of fiscal 2011 revenues into its rainy-day fund on Monday, up from July's estimate of a $219 million deposit.

DALLAS - A lawsuit filed before the Texas Supreme Court seeks to strike down the state's tax on business, claiming it violates the constitution's prohibition on levying a personal income tax without voter approval.

DALLAS - A year before opening a $60 million stadium that has become a symbol of Texas' zeal for high school football, the Allen Independent School District is turning its attention to classrooms and the deepest budget cuts in state history, experts said.

Revenue collections were up in July from a year ago, Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller said last week, though the string of double-digit increases from 2010 was broken.

Kansas has offered incentives to induce state workers to retire early in an effort to reduce the payroll by 4,000 from the current 23,000 workers.

Arkansas revenues of $377 million in July were $2.4 million below expectations but $6.4 million more than collected in July 2010.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola was joined last week by public safety officials and community activists at a rally promoting the city’s proposed sales tax increase.

A task force charged with determining Scottsdale’s capital needs met for the first time last week as the City Council moves towards a possible general obligation bond election in the fall of 2012.