Public finance

The board of Wayne County, Mich. has rejected a plan to move a half-built abandoned jail site in downtown Detroit, making it more likely the county will restart the controversial, bond-financed project.

Detroit's convention center is hitting the market Wednesday with $300 million of bonds that marks its first public offering since it was taken over by a regional authority in 2009.

Moody's Investors Service released a report saying transparency in the municipal market has been diminished by the growth of bank loans and private placements.

While spending on state highways is up, some states are falling further behind on maintenance needs, Reason Foundation says.

ARKANSAS

ALABAMA

Inflows into municipal market funds dropped this week by 41.7%.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, dropped nine basis points the week ending October 16 to 4.28%

Agreement on multi-year federal highway bill possible in post-election congressional session, Transportation Secretary Foxx says.

Detroit reached a settlement with FGIC, the last major holdout creditor in its bankruptcy case, that gives the bond insurer a mix of cash and prime downtown Detroit land to build a new hotel and condominiums.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan hired former New York City budget director Carol O'Cleireacain as a deputy mayor. She will find new revenue, work on the city's emergence from bankruptcy and on the restructuring of its massive water and sewer department.

ARKANSAS

IOWA

Officials in Wayne County, Mich., are contemplating the fate of a half-built, bond-financed jail in downtown Detroit that has been abandoned for more than a year amid major cost overruns and an FBI investigation.

ARKANSAS

ARIZONA

More city finance officers reported improved fiscal conditions in fiscal 2014 than in the 29-year history of the National League of Cities' city fiscal conditions survey. However, the cities are still not fully recovered from the economic recession, the NLC said in its report on the survey.

Attorneys for bankrupt Detroit and bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. said in court that they plan to finalize an agreement by Thursday, a move that would mean the city would have support from all major creditors for its bankruptcy exit plan.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says there is a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress on long-term federal transportation spending.

Triet Nguyen and Chris Foster discuss their quantitative approach to munis, how they are getting cross-over investors interested in municipal bonds, and why they are looking at the military housing sector.