Southwest

DALLAS — Michael Cheroutes, a Denver attorney and expert in public finance, will guide Colorado’s search for new highway funding mechanisms as the first director of its High Performance Transportation Enterprise agency.

DALLAS — Harris County, Tex., is bringing $140 million of toll road refunding bonds to a market that appears ready to reward issuers bearing strong credit ratings.

DALLAS — Utah, one of the most fiscally fit states in the mountain West, expects to price the largest issue in its history next week — a $1.25 billion deal that will combine taxable Build America Bonds with tax-exempt debt.

DALLAS — The University of Texas System is preparing to price $631 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds Tuesday, including $430 million for a new UT Southwestern Medical School hospital in Dallas.

DALLAS — Texas sales tax revenues in fiscal 2010 were $1.5 billion less than expected in the official forecast, putting in doubt the projections for collections of $44.3 billion over the two-year state budget cycle.

DALLAS — Houston’s transportation authority, Metro, faces delays and growing costs on a $1.5 billion light-rail expansion after its purchase of 103 rail cars from a Spanish manufacturer was found to violate federal law.

DALLAS — Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday cut its rating on the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority’s junior-lien and third-lien debt to junk, dimming hopes of refinancing any of the agency’s $988 million debt.

DALLAS — Texas’ record budget shortfall is becoming a political issue as Democrats accuse Republican Comptroller Susan Combs of withholding accurate estimates ahead of the November elections.

DALLAS — Oklahoma is preparing a list of highway projects that could get under way quickly if Congress approves President Obama’s proposed $50 billion infrastructure stimulus program.

DALLAS — Revenue from a temporary one-cent sales tax designed to balance Arizona’s budget fell 10% short of projections the first month the tax was collected, officials said.