Southwest

DALLAS — As Denver International Airport embarks on the largest expansion project in its 16-year history, it’s benefitting from surging passenger levels and an improving economy that yielded a new traffic record in 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened an audit of $3 million of bonds issued by an authority in Little Rock almost four years after it entered into a closing agreement with the agency that preserved the bonds’ tax-exempt status.

DALLAS — If volume in January was any indication, it’s ­going to be a lean year for new issuance in the Southwest.

DALLAS — The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees gave preliminary approval to $141 million of revenue bonds Friday that will finance improvements to the main campus in Fayetteville.

DALLAS — The Texas Senate’s proposed $158.7 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012 and 2013 is 15% lower than the current $187.5 billion budget but $2.3 billion more than the House’s two-year budget proposal.

DALLAS — For issuers who need it, bond insurance nowadays is very expensive, even if it is available. But local governments in Texas are still finding their way to market with state guarantees that offer low up-front costs and result in attractive long-term rates.

DALLAS — J. Kevin Ward, executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board, is leaving the agency after 22 years to become general manager of the Trinity River Authority.

DALLAS — The Oklahoma budget- stabilization fund has been so depleted that it’s no longer enough to cover the cost of a cup of coffee at most restaurants, let alone help balance the state budget.

DALLAS — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and top legislative leaders vowed last week to reform structural problems they said almost ensured expenditures would continue to exceed available revenues.

WASHINGTON — The Utah Housing Corp. has filed a lawsuit against two brokers — CDR Financial Products Inc. and Investment Management Advisory Group Inc. — and eight providers of guaranteed investment contracts, claiming they knowingly engaged in bid-rigging activities to artificially suppress interest rates on investment agreements it purchased for its housing bond proceeds.