Month: June 2024

Columbus, Ohio, recently embarked on a technological modernization push that employs artificial intelligence in its payroll, revenue and accounting and operations systems. Columbus Auditor Megan Kilgore said her office now uses AI for everything from reconciling differences between sets of data to visualizing city finances for the mayor or City Council members with almost real-time

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities ended up. Despite some slight weakness Monday, munis continued “their impressive start to June,” with yields falling 10 to 13 basis points last week, Birch Creek strategists said. Munis have rallied roughly 24 to 29 basis points month-to-date, a “complete

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said the central bank is in a good position to take its time and watch incoming data before starting to cut interest rates. “We need to see more evidence to convince us that inflation is well on our way back down to 2%,” Kashkari said Sunday on

Louis English joined Janney Montgomery Scott as managing director and head of municipal sales within the fixed-income division. He will be based out of the firm’s Chicago office. English comes to Janney from Baird, where he worked as a producing sales manager. He also worked as a municipal salesperson at Mesirow, Loop Capital Markets and

Transit agencies across the country are being forced to deal with new trends in ridership, new travel patterns, and dwindling federal funds from pandemic- related relief that make the next few years crucial for bringing our nation’s transit system into the new world. That was the takeaway from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing

Fitch Ratings upgraded San Diego County’s pension obligation bonds to AAA and affirmed a stable outlook during a review ahead of the county’s plans to price a $31.5 million certificates of participation refunding. Fitch upgraded $211 million outstanding POBs to AAA from AA-plus, matching the agency’s issuer rating for the county. It also affirmed the

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she still sees inflation risks as tilted to the upside despite welcome news in the latest data. Mester, speaking in print and television interviews Friday at Bloomberg’s New York office, also said the median projection of policymakers’ latest forecasts — which signaled just one interest-rate cut

Municipals were firmer ahead of an uptick in issuance next week, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended mixed. USTs extended their rally this week after receiving support from “softer” economic data as yields fell 18 to 24 basis points on the week and a total of 20 to 30 basis points month-to-date,

When Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced he’d be pursuing a Major League Soccer team for his city, it appeared to throw Indianapolis’ previous plans for a new stadium development — spearheaded by the owner of the city’s United Soccer League team, the Indy Eleven, Ersal Ozdemir — into doubt.  But city officials subsequently revealed that

The public finance community hailed Wednesday’s First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders had a lien on net revenues. Observers say the decision sends a message that the municipal revenue bond pledge is strong, the Oversight Board’s plan of adjustment for PREPA as it currently is proposed is unlikely

The country’s largest public pension fund came under fire Wednesday from House Republicans, who accused the fund of being part of a “climate cartel” that illegally colludes with other investors to try to force companies to reduce their carbon footprint. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System was one of four witnesses called by the Republican

The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals almost entirely overturned a lower court’s reasoning that underlay an Oversight Board proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment, in what appears to be a major bondholder victory. On Wednesday afternoon, a panel of appeals court judges ruled unanimously that PREPA bondholders had a perfected lien

In another sign of the sector’s recovery, airports are set to flock to the muni market this year as issuers can no longer postpone long-delayed projects and necessary infrastructure maintenance. Airport issuance got off to a slow start this year with only $3.5 billion priced through the end of May, according to Ramirez’s May airport