Bond ratings

Fitch also upgraded the city's Georgia Municipal Association certificates of participation (city of Atlanta public safety projects) to AA-plus from AA.

South Dakota voters will have the opportunity to end the state tax on groceries this November.

LINXS, the private developer consortium, and Los Angeles World Airports struck an agreement on a timeline for completion of the people mover project, pushing Fitch Ratings' outlook higher.

The rating agency estimated the cost of college and university capital needs at $750 billion to $950 billion over the next decade.

The mayor and controller debated the causes for the rating outlook revision to negative from stable ahead of a July city bond sale.

Fitch upgraded Chicago's issuer default rating and GO debt rating to A-minus from BBB-plus and the city's sales tax securitization bonds to AAA from AA-plus.

Continued economic growth and budgetary discipline could lead to an upgrade of the state's AA rating over the next two years, S&P said.

Both ratings agencies cited the health system's improved liquidity in recent years.

S&P Global Ratings is concerned that fall freshmen enrollment will be down significantly after dropping last year.

The one notch upgrade affects $256 million in outstanding bonds and resulted from Fitch's recent criteria change.

The private-activity bonds funding LAX's automated people mover project have been downgraded to junk by Fitch amid delays and disagreements with the private developer. But Fitch affirmed the airport's AA rating.

The rating agency's new local government rating criteria led to the higher rating.

The system, along with UT Southwestern Medical Center, plan to build a $5 billion pediatric health campus in Dallas.

The City of Angels is the latest in recent days to score a ratings upgrade as Fitch reviews its local government ratings using amended criteria.

Ten other pension obligation bonds are under review by Fitch Ratings as a result of the agency's new local government criteria.

Many issuers are trying to understand rating agency methodology changes that could affect more than a third of them.

The rating agency said legislation signed into law this month to limit annual property tax revenue growth to 5.5% could reduce commercial property collections.

The driving force behind the trend is the overall strength of the economy, according to Fitch Ratings' Michael Rinaldi. Revenue sources for municipalities, such as sales and property taxes, are doing very well. 

Two rating agencies upgraded Los Angeles Unified School District's bond ahead of multi-billion dollar refunding.

"We withdrew the rating because we have determined we do not have sufficient information to maintain a forward-looking credit opinion on the city," S&P said.