Economy

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris Tuesday introduced a resolution that would direct additional parking-fee revenue into the city’s pension fund to help boost its funding level and ward off a potential state takeover.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis will lease its parking meters for 50 years to a private company under a controversial plan by Mayor Greg Ballard that was narrowly approved Monday by the city-county council.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission recently named engineer Kevin Keith as director of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox last Saturday approved the $1.5 billion sale of the Detroit Medical Center to a for-profit Tennessee-based health care company. The deal awaits federal approval and is expected to close Dec. 31.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook on Edward Health Services Corp.’s A2 rating to positive from stable in recognition of its improving operations, affecting $282.4 million of debt.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Rush University Medical Center’s Obligated Group rating by one notch to A2 due to its improved operating performance in recent years.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday said it would fund the design and construction of a second new control tower at O’Hare International Airport as part of an $8 billion runway expansion.

DALLAS — Amid a flood of municipal issuance in the last six weeks of the year, the North Texas Tollway Authority will bring around $1.5 billion of debt to market, starting with nearly $500 million of tax-exempt refunding revenue bonds this week.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority tabled the selection of a new underwriting syndicate after a board member questioned the choices at a finance committee meeting Monday.

CHICAGO — Aurora Health Care Inc. in Wisconsin enters the market as soon as Tuesday to refund $140 million of outstanding debt in a deal officials scaled down from $377 million due to rising long-term interest rates.

SAN FRANCISCO — A public employee union is suing to block a California public-private partnership that would design, build, operate, and maintain a six-lane link between San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

WASHINGTON — The South Carolina Infrastructure Bank, the state’s main issuer for highway project funding, expects to competitively sell $225 million of new-money and refunding bonds on Tuesday, following a downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service to A1 from Aa3 due to weakened debt-service coverage.

DALLAS — Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded the Regional ­Transportation District of Colorado’s lease-revenue debt to A-minus from A-plus as it prepares to issue $310 million of certificates of participation.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Jose, Calif., has been forced to piece together bank backing for short-term notes that have helped pay for a more than $1 billion airport terminal.

Fitch Ratings Tuesday assigned a junk rating to debt issued for the Sonoma County Indian Health Project.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is warning the incoming Republican governors of two Midwestern states that unless they use certain grant funding for high-speed rail projects, they will lose the funds entirely.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Finance Authority board this week approved the first tranche of private-activity borrowing planned by CenterPoint Joliet Terminal Railroad LLC to finance ongoing construction at its intermodal freight-transfer facility in Joliet under a $15 billion federal government pilot program.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is inching closer to becoming a bond issuer and could offer its first deal as early as next year.

CHICAGO — Transit advocates in central Indiana plan to push forward with a high-profile regional transportation plan that features a $2.5 billion mass-transit expansion despite opposition from Republican leaders.

MIAMI — Legislation authorizing a national infrastructure bank could see renewed momentum this month as the Obama administration begins to prepare its fiscal 2012 budget.