Economy

CHICAGO - Ohio has picked KPMG LLP as lead advisor for a proposal to privatize the Ohio Turnpike.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A newly appointed member of northwest Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing what he calls trading irregularities in some of the agency's $116 million of defaulted bonds.

Proponents of a measure to increase South Dakota’s sales tax to fund K-12 and Medicaid said they have gathered more than twice the required signatures to put it on next year’s ballot.

Moody’s Investors Service placed Cleveland-based MetroHealth System on watch list for potential downgrade due to a decline in financial performance through the first nine months of fiscal 2011. The credit is rated A2.

LOS ANGELES - A judge rejected the Las Vegas Monorail Co.'s third amended plan to exit bankruptcy on Friday even though 97% of the bondholders voted in favor of it.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has floated a plan to issue $750 million of bonds backed by the city's share of money from a countywide transportation sales tax to repair a quarter of the city's streets in two years.

WASHINGTON - House Republicans plan to soon introduce a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that would be partly paid for by revenues from expanded domestic energy production, Speaker John Boehner announced Thursday.

A parcel tax that will help the struggling Doctors Medical Center stay afloat passed with nearly three-fourths of the vote on Tuesday.

Fitch Ratings assigned an A-plus rating Monday to a $147.9 million refunding planned by Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

CHICAGO - Almost out of cash to keep operating, an upscale retirement facility in downtown Chicago financed with $229 million of bonds filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week after the failure of negotiations with a group of investors aimed at buying the facility breathing room.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority achieved total savings of $10.1 million in a $268.6 million refunding deal that sold out in less than three hours, officials said.

The board overseeing the embattled Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority on Monday accepted its executive director's resignation and reached an agreement with the Florida state government to build a long-planned beltway.

CHICAGO - The U.S. market for public-private partnerships remains small and fragmented, marred by hurdles like clashing legislation and political controversy, in contrast to Canada and Europe, panelists said at The Bond Buyer's Transportation/P3 Conference here.

DALLAS - The South Louisiana Port Commission will expand cargo-handling capabilities at the Port of South Louisiana with a new pier financed by $8 million of port revenue bonds.

The board of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority discussed the proposed four-year budget and capital plan for 2012 to 2014 on Wednesday amid the hovering shadow of labor negotiations.

CHICAGO - Ohio hopes to issue a request for proposals by the end of the year to privatize its highway rest areas, one of several public-private partnerships being eyed by Gov. John Kasich's administration.

CHICAGO - With federal funding and gasoline tax revenue falling far short of meeting demand for transportation infrastructure, sector participants need to do a better job selling the public and political leaders on the perks of investment and the pitfalls of inaction.

CHICAGO - As the market continues to cope with the near-disappearance of bond insurance, one effect is clear: the growing need for issuers to tout their stories to entice investors, panelists at the Bond Buyer's Transportation/P3 conference here said Tuesday.

Ohio State University announced last week that it has selected seven possible partners for the school's plan to become the first public university to privatize its parking system.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Transit Authority president Forrest Claypool last week unveiled the first of hundreds of new rail cars.