News and Information from Bond Buyer

Parking meters that print coupons from businesses could start to become the norm for municipalities in the near future.

A federal interagency task force, created to advise the Puerto Rican government on fiscal and economic matters, will meet with Puerto Rican officials next month, but will not provide any additional financial assistance, knowledgeable sources said.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said Wednesday he remains concerned about continued low inflation, since there is no good reason for it, and said no one is sure at this point whether the Fed might begin to taper its asset purchase program in December.

The Fort Smith, Ark., Board of Directors unanimously agreed to issue up to $150 million in industrial development revenue bonds for an expansion at Gerber Products Co.'s plant.

Long-term muni funds are having their worst year since 2008, as rising interest rates and headlines about Detroit's bankruptcy filing and Puerto Rico's fiscal problems fueled outflows of investor money.

Puerto Rico's pension funded ratio of 8.4% for 2012 was far worse than any of the 50 states, Morningstar, Inc., said in pension reports for 23 individual states and the territory it released on Wednesday.

Moody's Investors Service said it has downgraded the Port of Seattle's outstanding intermediate and subordinate revenue bonds.

A team of U.S. officials is being dispatched to Puerto Rico to help the island better manage its nearly decade-long economic crisis, Bloomberg news reports. Officials from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency will participate, according to an administration official who spoke anonymously because she wasn’t authorized to announce the team.

The municipal bond market posted gains for a fifth session Wednesday even as Treasury prices drifted lower as trading in the secondary picked up in volume.

State and federal investigations of the Beaumont, Texas, Independent School District brought a Moody's Investors Service warnings of a possible downgrade on the district's $405 million of general obligation debt Tuesday.

Asset purchases could be decreased "in coming months," as Federal Open Market Committee members expect data to show "ongoing improvement in labor market conditions," which would warrant such action, according to minutes of the panel's latest meeting, released Wednesday.

A high-speed rail line along Colorado's Front Range could carry 13 million passengers a year and would likely cost $9.8 billion, according to a state estimate.

Republican Kevin Faulconer and Democrat David Alvarez will face-off in a run-off election on Feb. 11 to replace San Diego Mayor Bob Filner who was forced from office following a sexual harassment scandal.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued new educational materials for issuers explaining what information dealers should make public about their contributions to campaigns to get voters to approve bond offerings.

Housing Finance Agencies are enjoying their highest ratings ever and aren't facing immediate downgrades even as loan delinquencies rise.

Florida-based Community Capital's portfolio manager Julie Egan and chief investment officer Barbara VanScoy will take new positions with industry groups January.

Productivity growth is the wildcard in whether the economy sees a pickup in payroll growth heading into next year, New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley said Wednesday.

Running up against a deadline that could bring federal fines, Miami-Dade County commissioners demanded to know why their massive sewer plan isn't farther along.

Moody's Investors Service said it has downgraded Atlantic City, N.J.'s underlying general obligation rating to Baa2 from Baa1, affecting $219 million of outstanding general obligation and city-guaranteed bonds.

With the completion of the week's largest deal, $1.8 billion of Jefferson County, Ala., sewer bonds, the municipal bond market readied for the retail pricing of the next two largest deals of the week, even as the secondary market has a firmer tone.