News and Information from Bond Buyer

Desert Hot Springs, Calif. officials avoided steps that would lead to its second Chapter 9 bankruptcy during a special meeting, but the city hasn't resolved its fiscal crisis yet.

Three triple-A issuers auctioned bonds in the competitive market Wednesday, with few balances left over on the deals and prices richer than the benchmark scales, even in an overall weaker market.

The federal government ran a $91.6 billion budget deficit in October, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Missouri local governments' penchant for negotiated sales over competitive bidding resulted in an estimated $43 million in higher costs over a four-year period, state auditor Tom Schweich concluded.

A lawsuit has halted delivery of $33 million of bonds for San Antonio's VIA Advanced Transportation District that priced Oct. 17.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the rating on Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health System's revenue bonds based on improved finances.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion of 10-year notes with a 2 3/4% coupon at a 2.750% high yield, a price of par.

Pro baseball teams in the Southeast are scoring new ball parks with mixed-use entertainment districts to enhance the fan experience in and outside of the game.

Elliot Schwartz has been chosen as Deputy Director of the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices starting Nov. 18. The center provides the nation’s governors and their key policy staff technical assistance for challenges facing their states. It identifies and shares best practices from across the country and hosts meetings of leading policymakers, program officials and scholars.

The Treasury Department Wednesday auctioned $25 billion of 364-day bills at a 0.135% high yield, a price of 99.863500.

The Treasury Department Wednesday auctioned $45 billion of four-week bills at a 0.060% high yield, a price of 99.995333.

Several of the week's largest deals were set to price Wednesday, leaving the secondary market weaker for a third session as traders eyed cheap deals in the primary.

Many U.S. cities are still recovering from the effects of the Great Recession but they remain burdened by massive unfunded liabilities, according to a new five-year survey of 30 cities done by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The 30 cities and their metro areas polled by Pew account for almost 49% of America’s gross national product.

A Chapter 9 process works well when there is a positive partnership between stakeholders, the bankruptcy attorney for formerly bankrupt Central Falls, R.I., emphasized during the recently held Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance Conference in New York.

Cerritos, the Los Angeles suburb that lays claim to having the world’s biggest auto mall, is one of 36 California cities, including Oakland and bankrupt San Bernardino, facing a state land grab that mayors say will devastate their finances, Bloomberg news reports. Controller John Chiang has ordered Cerritos, a city of 50,000 about 20 miles (33 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, to liquidate $171 million in assets including land leased to dealers at the auto mall and a performing-arts center. The city’s redevelopment agency held the property before the state dissolved blight-fighting districts in 2011.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's monthly survey released Wednesday shows businesses in the Sixth district left their inflation outlook for the next 12 months essentially unchanged, with their expectations appearing to remain well-anchored.

The City Council in the resort town of Desert Hot Springs, California, urged by aides to begin steps toward bankruptcy, stopped short, saying it may avoid running out of cash by finding savings to stay solvent, Bloomberg news reports. The city of 26,000 people and 16 boutique mineral spas near Palm Springs will be out of cash by March 31, according to Amy Aguer, the interim finance director. She said the council should declare a fiscal emergency, a prerequisite under state law before seeking court protection.

The Harrisburg City Council OK'd a $270 million parking-asset lease that is one of two lynchpins to the financial recovery plan in Pennsylvania's capital city.

Voters in Tulsa, Okla., approved a record $918.7 million bond package by wide margins Tuesday.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s 2011 legislation curbing the collective-bargaining rights of most public employees is constitutional, his attorney general told the state supreme court in a test of whether it infringes rights to free association and free speech, Bloomberg news reports. Seven justices in Madison are hearing arguments today on the state’s bid to reverse a trial court judge’s decision last year that parts of the measure known as Act 10 unduly burden union members’ rights.