This story was initially published at Debtwire.com
The Town of Hamden, Connecticut successfully completed an oversubscribed USD 30.4m bond sale yesterday (21 July), an important milestone in the town’s efforts to achieve financial stability – assuming officials maintain their commitment to that effort, said Barry Bernabe, managing director at Phoenix Advisors, the town’s financial advisor.
Continue readingThis story was initially published at Debtwire.com.
Officials from college cities and towns nationwide still don’t know the full impact the new coronavirus (COVID-19) will have on their communities, but say that they are anxious about colleges and universities transitioning coursework online and potential results for their bottom line.
Continue readingThis post was initially published at Debtwire.com
A Florida-based senior living project with a technical default and a chunk of subordinate bonds that are valued higher than the senior debt illustrates the sometimes-opaque nature of municipal bond pricing, several market participants say.
Continue readingThis story was initially published at Debtwire.com
The USD 100m debt issuance to fund the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences museum in Los Angeles leaves some market participants cynical about the project’s essentiality given the use of tax-exempt financing.
The deal is the second debt issuance in five years for a museum devoted to the Oscars award ceremony and Hollywood. The project is set to cost USD 482m and open in December 2020 – more than a year late and USD 100m over budget.
Continue readingThis post was initially published at Debtwire.com.
The City of Berkeley, California released today a request for proposal (RFP) to advance its microbond proposal, seeking firms able to provide services for the establishment of the first municipal bond market issuance using blockchain technology.
Continue readingThis post was initially published on Debtwire.com
One week after the regents of the University of Alaska voted to consolidate operations amid a large state funding cut of USD 136m, it remains to be seen exactly how the university system will achieve cost savings in fiscal year 2020.
Breaking up with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is hard to do.
But the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and other municipalities across California are evaluating the possibility of doing just that, seeking to take advantage of a groundswell of public discontent in the wake of PG&E’s wildfire-driven collapse into bankruptcy, which has left the utility giant in an unfamiliar position of political vulnerability.
A move toward utility “municipalization” in the state could introduce yet another set of complications for PG&E, which has historically resisted efforts by cities to gain energy independence and is already battling with contentious bankruptcy proceedings, an uncertain legislative reform process, and the threat, just around the corner, of another vicious wildfire season.
Continue reading24 June 2018
Thirty-three days after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Gloria Irizarry and her family moved to Connecticut.
Irizarry loved her job as a grade school teacher at John F. Kennedy School in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico. But a week following the hurricane, the elementary school building was full of refugees, and the teachers waited for instructions from the local board of education. Classes ultimately wouldn’t resume until January 2018, three-and-a-half months after Maria struck the island.
The Irizarrys are among the more than 135,000 Puerto Ricans who packed up what was left of their lives and moved to the states in the six months following Hurricane Maria, according to estimates by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. The waves of newcomers have put intense pressure on cash-strapped school districts – even forcing the hand of both state and federal governments, which eventually pledged additional funding. Tens of millions will be spent over and above initial 2017-18 school budgets – but it could take years for those dollars to find their way into school coffers, and in the meantime, schools are doing more with less.
Continue readingThis piece first published October 11, 2017, Debtwire Municipals.
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Improved operating margins or fewer covenant violations are two indicators that would suggest the new management is worth the additional cost at Senior Qualities Lifestyles Corporation (SQLC), which nearly doubled management fees at the company’s continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), on individual credits, said two bondholders.
This piece first published June 16, 2017, Debtwire Municipals
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Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) should survive through growing demands for capital improvements due to the essential nature of the service it provides, said Mike Linko, credit analyst at Western Asset Management.
MARIA AMANTE 