General obligation bonds

A Fitch rating analyst pointed to the school system's elevated long-term liability burden that could be exacerbated by future voter-approved bonds.

Illinois returns to market with about $1.4 billion of GO bonds on Tuesday, with proceeds funding accelerated pension benefit payments and capital projects.

Chicago postponed the sale of about $292 million of tax-exempt bonds from an $800 million general obligation bond deal.

Chicago returns to market March 10 with $800.29 million of general obligation bonds, following bond rating downgrades from Fitch Ratings and KBRA.

The commission also approved developing a plan to refund $286 million of bonds.

The competitive bond sale comes after the triple-A-rated city received a negative outlook from S&P over the use of reserves to ease budget pressures.

Chicago general obligation bond prices have dropped sharply since the start of the year, according to the Center for Municipal Finance's muni indices.

This would be the state's first bond issuance since 2023.

A plan before county commissioners to put a 0.625% permanent sales tax on the April ballot to complete a bond-financed jail project failed to advance.

Pending city council approval, the February competitive bond sale would be the first issuance from $950 million of debt authorized by voters on Nov. 4.

The rating agency lifted the state's general obligation and other ratings by a notch, citing well-established and prudent governance practices.

The second-largest public school system in Texas could ask voters to approve as much as $6.24 billion of bond authorization as soon as in May.

Bond sales by Texas issuers rose 21% to $82.52 billion, putting the state in second place behind California and well ahead of third-place New York.

The Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District was four weeks late on a Dec. 1 debt service payment amid delays to Cook County property tax billing.

A review Moody's launched in September ended with rating downgrades and negative outlooks for the city's outstanding general obligation and revenue bonds.

After selling $260 million of voter-approved bonds for the project, county officials are eyeing a sales tax ballot measure in 2026 to cover the higher cost.

The $6.3 billion all-funds budget was amended in the wake of the Nov. 4 defeat of a property tax rate increase that would have raised $109.5 million in revenue.

Public transit emerged as an $11 billion winner in the 2025 elections as voters in five states approved measures to pour money into the sector.

The school system, which has an AA underlying bond rating from S&P, was targeted by the Texas Education Agency for a takeover based on academic performance.

Voters will decide the fate of 447 bond propositions totaling a record $83.7 billion with development-related districts accounting for most of the debt.