Southwest

DALLAS — The Kansas Department of Commerce has offered an incentive package of tax revenues, tax credits, and cash totaling $229.5 million to sponsors of a proposed $414 million entertainment and office building development in a Kansas City suburb.

DALLAS — Regional transportation planners in the Phoenix area will take the first step toward a rail link to the western suburb of Glendale next week with the $878,000 study of the new route.

WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers from Texas are pushing for the Treasury Department to change tax rules that are forcing the state’s school districts to forego, or pay more for, the bond financing of infrastructure projects because they cannot access the Texas Permanent School Fund’s bond guarantee program.

DALLAS — With tolling options closed, the Texas Transportation Commission is considering funding sources for a $2.2 billion expansion of heavily traveled Interstate 35 to six lanes from San Antonio to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

DALLAS — Facing strong headwinds from the ongoing recession and a weak airline industry, Denver plans to issue $235 million of fixed-rate airport bonds next week and $100 million of variable-rate bonds in November.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission last week delayed the awarding of contracts for a number of highway projects due to questions over the continued availability of federal funding.

Tulsa County Independent School District No. 5 has several projects under way that are wholly or partially financed with proceeds from $155 million of lease revenue bonds approved by voters in 2008.

Little Rock last week balanced its $135 million operating budget for 2009 with the help of a $1.4 million transfer from the solid-waste fund and spending cuts that eliminated a $3 million budget deficit.

The Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District will sell $11.8 million of certificates of participation in a negotiated sale this week to finance site work and design and development efforts for a downtown hotel as part of the Tucson Convention Center expansion project.

A significant drop in sales tax revenue may require Phoenix to reduce its bus system’s $171 million annual operating budget by $16 million in fiscal 2011 to avoid an operating fund deficit.