Public finance

FLORIDA

Chicago's steep borrowing costs should come down if the City Council adopts Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2016 budget and property tax hikes, the city's chief financial officer, Carole Brown, told council members.

House Majority Leader and top candidate to replace Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio as House Speaker, says he’s confident Congress will pass a multiyear highway bill in October.

Interactive Data announced on Tuesday the launch of its Liquidity Indicators Service for municipal and corporate bonds. The service will let subscribers access a series of security- and portfolio-level “Liquidity Indicators,” which are aimed at helping companies manage liquidity risk in any type of economic cycle, the company said.

ILLINOIS

IOWA

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel brought the case for a budget proposal that hikes property taxes to fund police and firefighter pensions before the municipal bond market on Monday. Speaking in Manhattan to the Municipal Forum of New York, Emanuel said that the only alternative to his budget is to make massive cuts in the city’s workforce and services.

The Texas Transportation Commission decided tolls are not needed to fund a proposed $530 million highway project.

INDIANA

ALABAMA

A water banking agreement between Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a credit positive, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez wants to extend protections under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to Puerto Rico, saying their absence caused Puerto Ricans to suffer losses when they invested in mutual funds heavily stocked with the financially struggling commonwealth’s bonds.

With non-transportation P3s on the rise, analysts and other experts say they're not for everyone.

MASSACHUSETTS

ALABAMA

Municipal bond funds reported inflows for the first time in four weeks, according to Lipper data released on Thursday. Weekly reporting funds experienced $231.252 million of inflows in the week ended Sept. 23, after outflows of $411.069 million in the previous week, Lipper reported.

In the week ended Sept. 24, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index was down five basis points to 4.42% from 4.47% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Faltering projects designed to boost the economy can expose municipalities to the perils of backing such ventures, Moody's Investors Service said in a commentary.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his finance team can expect tough questions from the muni buyside Friday at the city’s closed-door annual investor conference.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tells road planners to look at projects that eliminate bottlenecks and reduce traffic congestion.