Bonds

Amid increasing signs of financial and operational distress, the U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority board Monday announced CEO Andrew Smith will resign, effective June 30. The WAPA board held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to deal with several topics. Nearly the entire meeting was held outside of public view but at least two

Municipal supply is set to top $14 billion next week, a high not seen in almost seven years, just as yields have hit year-to-date highs and relative value has improved. While participants expect some pressure ahead in the near-term, they also say the current yield and ratio set offers investors opportunity. The hefty primary next

Oregon economists in their June forecast predicted a 50-50 chance the state’s residents will receive a kicker tax credit in 2026 as revenues are coming in at a slow and steady pace. The state has a trigger mechanism that returns money to taxpayers every two years through a so-called kicker rebate if personal income taxes

On Tuesday, Moody’s changed its outlook on Maryland’s credit rating to negative from stable due to a depletion of the state’s general fund surplus, while affirming the state’s issuer and general obligation bond ratings at Aaa. The Maryland State Treasurer’s office isn’t showing a lot of concern.  “After hosting a successful briefing with all three

Houston Independent School District officials unveiled a massive $4.4 billion bond proposal for the November ballot that would address aging facilities, update technology, and improve security without increasing taxes. The plan, presented to the district’s Community Advisory Committee on Thursday, will be heading soon to the school board for a final vote on holding a

Issuance surged in May as Fed policy uncertainty, pent-up capital needs and mega deals helped volume top $40 billion for the month, the first time since 2016. May’s volume stood at $43.957 billion in 866 issues, up 46.9% from $29.919 billion in 802 issues in 2023. This is above the 10-year average of $35.896 billion.

The major sticking points between what California lawmakers want and cuts proposed in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revisions are starting to arise with just over two weeks to go before lawmakers’ June 15 deadline to submit a budget to the governor. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, D-Sonoma

Cabrera Capital Markets has hired ex-Citi banker Tom Rasmussen as a managing director to head municipal sales, trading and underwriting as it climbs up the rankings. Rasmussen, who worked at Citi for more than 33 years running and forming teams, said he couldn’t say no to the opportunity to run Cabrera’s municipal trading and sales

The average time municipal issuers take to submit their audited financials to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has been steadily rising since 2018 and for 2023 has reached its highest ever recorded by the board at 209 days. “The 2024 study reveals that the average length of time audited financial statements were submitted to the

Municipals sold off Wednesday following another weaker U.S. Treasury session while equities were down near the close. Muni yields rose two to 13 basis points, depending on the curve, coming on the tailwind of a market correction, said Brad Libby, a fixed-income portfolio manager and credit analyst at Hartford Funds. Mixed economic data has been

The latest Water Resources Development Act, which passed a key Senate committee last week, would for the first time advance a pilot public-private partnership program first proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a decade ago. The WRDA of 2024 would require the Corps to craft a best-practices guide for P3 projects and report

Dallas would ramp up contributions to its Police and Fire Pension System over five years and could pursue additional funding options, including pension obligation bonds and using a portion of sales taxes earmarked for mass transit, under recommendations presented to a city council committee.  Jack Ireland, Dallas’ chief financial officer, told the Ad Hoc Committee

Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Mike Scarchilli (00:05):Hi everyone and welcome to the Bond Buyer Podcast, your go-to source for all things municipal finance. I’m Mike Scarchilli, Editor-in-Chief of the Bond Buyer. And

Municipals took a breather Friday ahead of the long weekend and a much smaller calendar after seeing yields rise and underperform U.S. Treasuries, pushing ratios to levels last seen in November 2023. In addition to “more attractive raw yields, municipal underperformance has allowed relative values to improve as well,” noted Kim Olsan, senior vice president

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology violated its bond covenant at the beginning of the month when it missed a monthly $1.2 million interest payment to the bond trustee. Jessica Warren, Harrisburg University’s executive director of marketing and communications, said the university only needs to make interest payments twice a year on its outstanding bond

The flooding in Vermont last summer illustrates climate change’s impact on U.S. localities and their financial responses. Severe floods that were triggered by several days of heavy rainfall in Vermont left homes washed out and businesses and municipal facilities with severe physical damage. It also left some of the rural communities in the state, which

As states and the federal government grapple with ways to replace or complement the diminishing gas tax, the idea of a per-mile user fee has gained public support over the last decade. That’s according to the latest annual survey from the Mineta Transportation Institute, based at San Jose State University, which for the last 15

Debt issued by the California Community Choice Finance Authority, a conduit for the state’s community choice aggregators, has climbed to nearly $10 billion in the three years since its inception. The first California CCA agency was created in 2010 to offer communities alternatives to purchasing power from private utilities and to encourage growth in more

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s financial situation is the worst in more than 30 years, one board director said Thursday. Board Director Hubert Turnbull made the remark at the board’s monthly meeting as a prelude to asking CEO Andrew Smith to explain the authority’s financial situation. WAPA had to turn to the

Municipals sold off Thursday with more cuts across the curve as a correction has ensued for the asset class just ahead of the summer reinvestment season. U.S. Treasuries saw losses and equities were also in the red. Municipal bond mutual funds saw the second week of outflows as investors pulled $217.6 million from the funds

The South has been the driving force for United States population growth in recent years – in 2023 for example, the region accounted for 87% of the nation’s population growth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That population growth has helped spur economic growth in that region. But the changing climate may turn that equation