Southwest

The State Board of Accountancy has dropped its investigation into whether Surprise chief financial officer Scott McCarty unlawfully claimed he was a certified public accountant in Arizona.

Arizona’s general fund revenue collections in April totaled $827 million, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee reported last week, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year growth in state revenue.

DALLAS — Steady growth in Oklahoma revenues over the past 12 months indicates the state is recovering from the Great Recession, Treasurer Ken Miller said at a news conference on Thursday.

DALLAS — A temporary one-cent sales tax increase approved by Arizona voters in May 2010 has produced $100 million less than originally projected and failed to prevent $454 million in cuts to education and a $564 million rollback in health care spending, according to state reports.

DALLAS — Texas Gov. Rick Perry called the Legislature into a 30-day special session that began Tuesday after a Democratic filibuster killed a combination revenue bill and school funding reform measure aimed at balancing the two-year state budget that was agreed to over the weekend.

DALLAS — The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the first toll road agency of its kind in Texas, is looking for yield-hungry investors willing to take a risk on $374 million of revenue bonds at or below investment grade next week.

DALLAS — Harris County, Texas, has asked five law firms involved with 30 county bond issues over three years to return $300,586 of undocumented travel and entertainment expenses.

DALLAS — Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which limits the ability of state and local government to raise taxes and issue debt, violates the U.S. Constitution, according to a lawsuit seeking to overturn the voter-approved law.

DALLAS — The University of Colorado Hospital Authority plans to issue $200.8 million of variable-rate revenue bonds this week for a new medical tower on its rapidly expanding Anschutz Campus in Aurora.

DALLAS — Texas legislators have agreed on the state’s next two-year spending plan, but still must reconcile revenues with expenditures before the session ends next week