Economy

A 10% fare increase on the PATCO light-rail line and toll increases on Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey bridges are set to go into effect later this month as Gov. Jon Corzine last week announced that he will not overturn the authority's decision to boost fares and bridge tolls.

CHICAGO -Capital spending is expected to remain heavy across the nonprofit health care sector amid mounting financial pressures and the fallout from the collapsed auction-rate securities market, according to a pair of reports released this week by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

Massachusetts may be heading closer to a settlement agreement with Bank of America Corp., as the bank agreed to redeem $43 million of auction-rate securities owned by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.

Voters in northern San Diego County this week rejected a bond measure to rebuild the Tri-City Healthcare District’s hospital to meet state-mandated earthquake safety standards for a third time.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have cut their ratings on William Beaumont Hospital as the Michigan-based system prepares to enter the market soon with more than $700 million of revenue bonds. Standard & Poor'swarned it is considering a downgrade as well

There will be one more big public hearing to praise or criticize plans to build a 16-mile toll highway in Orange County.

DALLAS - Galveston County, Tex., will improve roads and consolidate administrative offices into renovated facilities if voters approve a $135 million general obligation bond package in November.

Fitch Ratings this week placed its low investment-grade rating for Missouri's Lake of Ozarks Community Bridge Corp. on negative watch due to a downturn in bridge traffic this year and management's unwillingness to raise tolls.

A fight over the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to auction flight-slot leases at Newark Liberty Airport next week heated up yesterday when five airlines and a trade organization filed additional paperwork in a bid to halt the plan.

Financial woes at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority continue to dominate board meetings as officials review dipping into reserve funds to help support basic capital maintenance on the system.

DALLAS -New Mexico's $1.6 billion highway and rail transit program named for Gov. Bill Richardson will remain on track after lawmakers in a special session last week approved an extra $200 million, the former presidential candidate said.

DALLAS - Voters in Tulsa will decide in November on a 12-year, $2 billion street maintenance program after a divided City Council narrowly put the measure onto the ballot during a heated meeting Thursday night.

Add Connecticut to the list of states looking for additional resources to finance growing infrastructure demands.

CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich last week signed into law a new five-year hospital assessment program aimed at leveraging about $4 billion in additional federal matching Medicaid funds for the state's not-for-profit hospitals, especially those considered "safety-net" hospitals with high Medicaid volumes.

DALLAS - Texas Gov. Rick Perry and top legislative leaders yesterday urged lawmakers to allow use of state retirement and other investment funds for transportation projects and demanded immediate issuance of $1.5 billion of bonds authorized last year.

A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow Montana municipalities to issue revenue bonds backed by local gas taxes to fund transportation projects.

Santa Clara County voters will decide in November whether they want to pay more property taxes to rebuild their public hospital and a higher sales tax to take the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to San Jose.

DALLAS - A key player in a transportation plan in north Texas aims to keep its inaugural rail project on track with funding from the area's Regional Transportation Council.

The Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey yesterday approved toll and fare increases on its four bridges and its PATCO mass-transit system, with those hikes to take effect on Sept. 14.

Moody’s Investors Service last week upgraded to Aa2 from Aa3 the long-term rating on debt issued for the Medical Center of Central Georgia Inc.