Economy

DALLAS - Dallas Area Rapid Transit plans a 16% increase in debt service as it continues to expand its light-rail system under the fiscal 2012 budget that begins Saturday.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is suffering from an extreme cash-flow problem, but Gov. Nikki Haley has said she opposes raising the state gasoline tax as a solution.

A new rail alternative for downtown Raleigh has emerged from public comments related to the Southeast High-Speed Rail corridor, according to North Carolina transportation officials.

CHICAGO — Michigan-based Trinity Health Corp. will bring the year's largest health care deal to market next week when it sells $648 million of debt, some of which will finance its recent acquisition of Loyola University Health System.

Moody's Investor Service has revised its outlook to positive from stable on Aspirus Wausau Hospital's A2 rating in recognition of strong operating profitability for a third consecutive year.

DALLAS - The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will reduce its exposure to the vagaries of variable-rate debt and cut its debt service costs with next week's negotiated sale of $521.7 million of revenue refunding bonds.

DALLAS - The Arizona Transportation Board is scheduled to sell $164.5 million of excise tax revenue bonds in a competitive deal Tuesday.

House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., has been given the go-ahead by leadership to include $15 billion more for transportation programs in his multi-year bill, if he can find the revenue, sources said.

Six finalists are in the running for a contract to privatize Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority and the Puerto Rico Ports Authority have announced.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors approved plans last Thursday to issue $250 million of bonds.

CHICAGO — After investors agreed to take a haircut in a restructuring last year, an upscale retirement facility in downtown Chicago is again asking bondholders for more breathing room.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York has approved $1.5 billion in financing for education and health care.

The Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. expects to price $1 billion of new- money bonds the week of Oct. 17 to benefit the extension of the No. 7 subway line in New York City’s transit system from its current terminus on Eighth Avenue to the Hudson Yards redevelopment area.

WASHINGTON - States' unfunded liabilities for health care and other non-pension post-employment benefits totaled $545 billion in fiscal 2010, Standard & Poor's said in a report issued Thursday.

DALLAS - With its debt already at a record level, the North Texas Tollway Authority waived a $3.2 billion project offered by the Texas Department of Transportation.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is weighing one bill that secures bondholders if a hospital declares bankruptcy, and has already signed another that proponents said could help corporate investment in municipal bonds.

DALLAS - Texas Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, outlined a 10-part, 10-year plan Tuesday to build an academic hospital and medical school at the University of Texas in Austin.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The trustee for the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority's $115.9 million of defaulted bonds is providing financial support to entice volunteers to serve on the authority's board, according to the Florida state representative who negotiated the deal.

The Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget last week accepted a revised business plan for a $1.088 billion state hospital in New Orleans.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Georgia Department of Transportation Monday issued a request for proposals for the state's first public-private partnership concession.