Bonds

New Jersey Transit’s newly passed fiscal 2024 budget includes no new fare hikes and increased spending year-over-year, in the face of a looming fiscal cliff. NJ Transit’s board passed a $2.86 billion operating budget on Wednesday that’s 4.1% bigger than fiscal 2023’s, with 60% of costs associated with labor and fringe benefits and 31% linked

Data standardization across the municipal market will likely take years and much discussion to pinpoint the issues and how the market can solve them. Some of the apparent problems were discussed at the Brookings Municipal Finance Conference where Marc Joffe, federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute, presented his paper outlining them. “If

Munis continued to show strength Wednesday as several large new issues priced to good demand, with New York City Transitional Finance Authority seeing yields fall as much as of 14 basis points from Tuesday’s retail scales and Salt Lake City upsizing its deal. U.S. Treasuries improved and equities ended in the black. Triple-A yields were

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson Friday signed into law a 2% municipal sales tax rate, marking the end of a long-fought battle to shore up the city’s ailing finances, which have been hit by rising pension costs. “We’ve accomplished something huge, something major, something extraordinary for our city,” Johnson, surrounded by local and state officials in

Municipals continued to improve Tuesday in constructive secondary trading while a retail pricing of $950 million for the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer out long and equities rallied. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasuries were

A group of Wall Street banks are set to avoid a long-awaited trial in Illinois over charges of inflating interest rates on the state’s variable-rate debt after a Cook County judge Monday granted the banks’ motion to vacate the trial in light of a proposed settlement with the state. The deal may not be done

Municipals were slightly firmer to start off the week as a larger new-issue calendar looms, while U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended the session up. Triple-A yields fell one to two basis points while UST fell two to three. Munis started off last week at “extremely rich valuations throughout most of the curve after

Property owners fighting Oklahoma Turnpike Authority extension plans blasted the agency in filings this week with the state supreme court, which is nearing a decision on the validity of initial bonds for the $5 billion project. The briefs took issue with OTA’s response last month to questions from the high court concerning the U.S. Bureau

New York City’s capital program will be getting a much-needed bond boost as the New York City Transitional Finance Authority readies a sale of $1.08 billion of future tax-secured subordinate debt. Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund infrastructure projects in the city’s $164.8 billion 10-year capital plan. The fiscal 2024 executive capital

The Texas Legislature took final action Thursday on a massive property tax cut after beating back attempts in the House to include teacher pay increases and other measures in the bill. Senate Bill 2, which passed the Senate in a 31-0 vote, cleared the House in a 133-4 vote. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who advocated

UBS Financial Services has been granted preliminary approval to settle a class action lawsuit against it with bondholders for $2.5 million. The settlement stems from charges that UBS allegedly reported tax information incorrectly and cost investors millions, according to the suit.  The bank is accused of not reporting amortizable bond premiums on tax forms that

Municipals were slightly firmer in spots Friday while U.S. Treasuries saw losses, snapping a two-day rally, following stronger-than-estimated consumer sentiment data. Equities were mixed. Municipals largely ignored the moves in Treasuries after underperforming the rally throughout the week. Some of the outperformance municipals have shown over the past few weeks is due to a dearth

The Indiana Finance Authority will head into the market as soon as Tuesday with Indianapolis-based water and wastewater utility refundings using a tender and forward delivery structure popular in the current market to achieve savings. The Indiana Finance Authority serves as conduit the CWA Authority Inc. in an offering of an $80.7 million first-lien wastewater

Municipals improved again Thursday as U.S. Treasuries extended their rally on more disinflationary economic data while equities were in the black as well. Triple-A yields were bumped two to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields fell as much as 15 basis points at three years. The moves once again led to

Benjamin S. Wolfe of Short Hills, New Jersey, a former public finance banker passed away on Saturday, July 8, 2023. He was 85. He was born on Aug. 18, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, to Bertha and Milton Wolfe. He grew up in Newark and graduated from Weequahic High School before earning a bachelor’s degree

Municipals were firmer Wednesday, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally that followed the June consumer price index report showed inflation cooling. Equities ended the session up. Triple-A yields fell up to three basis points while UST saw yields fall by as much as 18 basis points. Ratios rose as a result. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

Nashville, Tennessee received a series of upgrades from S&P Global this week. The credit agency on Monday boosted Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County’s long-term general obligation debt rating to AA+ from AA. The upgrades also apply to obligations supported by its non-tax revenue. The outlook is stable. The action reflected Nashville’s efforts to “strengthen its

Municipals were steady Tuesday as the new-issue calendar picked up steam, including nearly $1 billion from Texas’ Denton Independent School District and an upsized deal from Utah’s Intermountain Power Agency. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer outside of five years and equities ended the session in the black. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Tuesday was at 61%,

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. hired Marc Livolsi, formerly of Citigroup, as managing director of public finance marketing. Livolsi, who worked at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. for 25 years until the bank cut his position in February along with two others in its municipal team, will focus on building relationships with public finance professionals as well

Environmentally friendly infrastructure got a big boost just before California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the budget on July 1 and then again last week through a grant-funding program. With the budget shortfall this year, lawmakers scrambled to tap the state’s cap-and-trade program and other non-general fund sources to sustain ongoing programs. California lawmakers added money