Economy

Moody’s Investors Service Monday downgraded the Lakewood Hospital Association to A3 from A2, warning that it faces significant financial challenges going forward. Analysts kept the outlook negative at the lower rating.

DALLAS — After years of planning, Colorado’s Regional Transportation District is preparing to issue $404 million of tax-exempt private-activity bonds Wednesday to finance a 23-mile commuter line linking Denver International Airport to a new downtown transit hub at Union Station.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority plans to use an outside financial adviser to help craft a financing plan as it faces the prospect of running out of money for new capital projects by July 2011.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority, after a four-year hiatus, is back in the bond market this week with $345 million of toll-revenue bonds.

WASHINGTON — Fitch Ratings downgraded the Weirton Medical Center in West Virginia on Friday after Moody’s Investors Service took similar action earlier this year. But credit analysts and hospital managers said Weirton has the cash to make its debt-service payments.

The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority last week received eight responses from infrastructure investment firms looking to bid on a potential long-term lease agreement for the commonwealth’s busiest roadway.

Harris County Hospital District is planning to issue $104 million of senior-lien refunding bonds this week in variable-rate mode with a letter of credit from JPMorgan Chase. The tax-exempt bonds will retire Series 2007B auction-rate bonds that were converted to taxable debt in April 2008.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are looking to a potential public-private partnership to help finance replacement of the 50-year old Scudder Falls Bridge, which connects the two states over the Delaware River.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week called for budget and management audits of the Delaware River Port Authority, as the bi-state agency has come under scrutiny recently for certain management practices.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York created a finance committee last week to comply with a public authority reform law enacted last year. The committee will review all proposals for bond financings with DASNY staff before they are brought to the board for approval.

A new passenger-rail tunnel that will run under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York could increase home values by $18 billion and generate $375 million of new property tax revenue for municipalities, a Regional Plan Association report released last week said.

Connecticut plans to apply for $220 million of federal funds to upgrade a rail corridor between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced last week. If approved, the state would match the funds with $260 million of bond proceeds. The state Bond Commission will consider the issue when it meets Aug. 11.

WASHINGTON — Rating agencies have expressed serious concerns about the District of Columbia’s financial status, particularly regarding its foreclosure this month on a troubled hospital, according to a letter the chief financial officer sent to city officials Wednesday.

CHICAGO — All five southeastern Wisconsin school districts involved in a failed investment scheme tied to funding their non-pension retiree health care trusts are reneging on their moral obligation pledge to repay asset-backed notes issued by the trusts and sold to Depfa Bank Plc.

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chief executive officer Joseph Brimmeier Wednesday urged more tolling of interstate highways to help generate additional revenue for transportation needs.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday voted to hold hearings on fare and toll increases to help balance its 2011 ­budget.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has begun an outreach program to educate voters statewide about Senate Resolution 821, which was approved during the General Assembly’s session earlier this year.

Because Congress has failed to extend federal Medicaid assistance funds, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue last week ordered most state agencies to cut their budgets by 4%. Only the budget supporting K-12 schools was exempt from the cuts.

The Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority next month will sell $30 million of unrated tax-exempt revenue bonds to help finance a new equipment facility and terminal upgrades for US Airways at the Philadelphia International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to release a $12.04 billion preliminary budget for 2011 today, officials said.