As there are just eight full work days remaining in the year, muni market leaders believe that 2020 will look a lot like 2019 — with high volume, increasing taxable issuance and strong demand. According to Sally Bednar, head of muni capital market strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, the drivers of the muni market in
Bonds
The University of Oklahoma breached a promise to lease custom-built space in a campus housing project financed with $250 million of bonds, according to a lawsuit the developer filed Monday. OU’s cancellation of the leases on a parking garage and commercial space in the Cross Village student housing complex eliminated about a third of revenues
States squirreled away a record amount of cash reserves in rainy day funds in fiscal 2019 in an encouraging sign they will be better prepared for the next recession than they were for the Great Recession. A new survey by the National Association of State Budget Officers reports these reserves had a median balance of
Construction delays and low occupancy rates spell trouble for a bond-financed student housing project in southern California. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the $53 million in housing revenue bonds — already junk-rated at their 2017 issuance — to Caa2 on expectations that its builder will need to tap the debt service reserve fund to cover operation
Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan is pricing its first-ever taxable bond refunding on Monday. The Michigan school district will price $55 million of taxable bonds to advance refund a portion of 2012 bonds for up to $4 million in savings, according to the district’s advisor, PFM. Ann Arbor Public Schools plans to issue the
While volume for the last full trading week of 2019 is on the decline from previous weeks, the calendar still boasts an above-average $6 billion of new deals. Primary marketThe Dormitory Authority of the State of New York dominates the new issue slate with its sale of $3.2 billion of general purpose personal income tax
Bloomington, Minnesota, plans to make a splash in the tax-exempt bond market next year by arranging a $300 million deal to fund a water park. The aquatic amusement venue would be part of a Mall of America expansion for which city officials are working to finalize redevelopment agreements. A rendering of the proposed indoor waterpark
End-of-year rating agency national reports about local government and state trends cast a poor light on Chicago and Illinois when compared to peer governments. Chicago fares poorly in this week’s Moody’s Investors Service report about how well-positioned the 25 largest cities are to weather a recession. “Most of the largest 25 cities in the U.S.
Municipal bond buyers saw a chunky calendar come to life on Wednesday with issuers from Connecticut, California and Cincinnati come to market with large deals. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting yielded no surprises. In a unanimous vote, the panel left rates at a range of 1.5% to 1.75%, and offered predictions of the rate
John Hicks began working Tuesday as Kentucky’s budget director after stepping down Monday as executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers. John Hicks became the new budget director of Kentucky on Tuesday after stepping down the day before as executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers Brian Tumulty, The
Pacific Gas & Electric officials say the $13.5 billion settlement agreement it announced last week with victims of several utility-sparked fires will set it on a sustainable path to emerge from bankruptcy in time to participate in California’s wildfire fund. The $21 billion bond fund will be launched with up to $10.5 billion in Department
Minnesota lawmakers have an estimated state budget surplus of more than $1.3 billion to work with in the fiscal year 2020-2021 biennium. The annual revenue forecast showed an improved revenue forecast and a small decrease to spending to create a forecast surplus of $1.332 billion over the next two-year spending period. The state’s rainy day
Fresh on the heels of the biggest volume week in nearly two years, the muni market is keeping the pedal to the metal with only a few weeks remaining in 2019. IHS Ipreo is estimating supply will come in at $13.21 billion in a calendar composed of $11.63 billion of negotiated deals and $1.58 billion
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home to the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet, had its credit rating on $88 million bonds cut by Moody’s Investors Service as the non-profit that runs it deals with falling attendance and high financial leverage. Lincoln Center Moody’s cut its rating on
Texas sales tax revenue for November set a record for any month at $3.18 billion, an increase of 6.2% over the same month last year, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported. In the same month, neighboring Oklahoma recorded its first drop in monthly receipts in more than two-and-half years, Treasurer Randy McDaniel reported. An oil pumpjack
Michael Scarchilli, The Bond Buyer’s Edior-inChief announces that The $6.5 billion CommonSpirit Health financing, the largest ever by a not-for-profit health system, won The Bond Buyer’s 2019 Deal of The Year award. Dan Morissette, CFO of Dignity Health, accepts the award for the deal which consisted of both a complex debt restructuring and new money
A flurry of secondary trading in the 10-year spot was being driven on Tuesday by the volatility in the equity market, as well as the attractive percentage to Treasuries, as the new issues started to find their way to the Street. “In the 10-year sweet spot, munis are trading 83% of Treasuries, which is attractive,”
A Puerto Rico mediator has filed a report that recommends the resumption of litigation over $22 billion of defaulted bonds, a move one expert said may be a way to put pressure on bondholders to settle. Chief Mediator Barbara Houser filed the report and recommendation just before Thanksgiving urging U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor
With the ink still fresh on a 2020 budget, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cleared another hurdle with a round of general obligation rating affirmations as the finance team preps a $1.2 billion refinancing. The city is selling $176 million of GO refunding bonds and $1 billion of junior lien Sales Tax Securitization Corp. bonds as
A recent $11.6 million financial move by Middletown,Ohio, Schools will put some money back into local taxpayers’ pockets. Through the refund or refinancing of $42.1 million in bonds by the Butler County school system, the city schools will save $11.6 million in school property taxes. “When you refund bonds, the savings go directly to the
It’s going to be a municipal bond feast for buyers when they return from their holiday break. The biggest volume week of the year awaits, with IHS Ipreo estimating bond supply will come in at $17.4 billion in a calendar composed of $14.8 billion of negotiated deals and $2.7 billion of competitive sales. Previously, the
The U.S. economy expanded “modestly” through mid-November amid steady consumer spending and some brighter signs from manufacturers, a Federal Reserve survey showed. “In manufacturing, more districts reported an expansion in the current period than the previous one, though the majority continued to experience no growth,” said the report released Wednesday in Washington. “The picture for
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $11.65 billion 2020 budget cleared the City Council in a 39-11 vote Tuesday. The spending plan wipes out a more than $800 million deficit with a mix of new revenues, cuts, and various one-shots, including $210 million of savings from a $1.2 billion bond refinancing deal. “The 2020 budget we just
Preston Hollow Capital LLC fired back against Nuveen Investments’ attempt to reopen a two-month old trial record, calling accusations of profiteering on a recent sale inaccurate, misleading, and desperate. The back-and-forth between the Dallas-based private lender and the Chicago-based investment powerhouse is the latest development in PHC’s lawsuit accusing Nuveen of wielding its influence to
The municipal market will get a pause from the breakneck issuance, as things will slow down for Thanksgiving but should pick up right where they left off the first week of December. The muni market is projected to produce about $1.4 billion of new paper for the week of Nov. 25, down from the revised
Gary, Indiana, has closed on a sale-leaseback bond transaction to keep the city afloat financially. The $40 million bond was privately placed with Dallas-based private lender Preston Hollow Capital LLC at a rate slightly lower than the city had originally agreed to and within the city’s recovery budget. Backers of the deal call it a
The Seattle area’s regional transit agency plans to continue collecting vehicle registration taxes that were rescinded by a statewide ballot measure until bonds that use the taxes as a funding source are paid off. The board of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, better known as Sound Transit, met Thursday to discuss the Nov.
The last remaining deals of the week priced into a muni market that continues to perform strongly, with technicals and drivers persist. Primary marketJP Morgan priced the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority’s (A3/NR/A-) $175.53 million deepwater port revenue remarketing bonds for the Loop LLC Project. Bank of America Securities priced the Dormitory Authority of the State
New Jersey Transit, in a bid to bolster revenues, has hired its first real estate chief. NJ Transit announced Tuesday that Carmen Taveras is the agency’s first chief of real estate, economic development and transit-oriented development. New Jersey Transit rail commuters in Hoboken. The agency is making an effort to monetize real-estate holdings and encourage
Tucson, Arizona, received a positive outlook from Fitch Ratings Monday as it prepares to issue $320 million of general obligation bonds and certificates of participation. Fitch affirmed its rating on $148 million of outstanding Tucson GO bonds at AA-plus and $171.6 million of certificates at A-plus. The city’s issuer default rating was affirmed at AA-minus.