MuniNet Guide Archive
Stockton: From Fiscal Distress to Municipal Bankruptcy
Stockton was referred to as the “fiscally distressed municipality du jour” back in March, when MuniNetGuide.com featured an interview with Tim Maniccia, entitled, The Fork in the Road: How a Local Government’s Approach to Fiscal Distress Can Determine its Financial...
Is the U.S. Housing Market Making a Comeback?
“Glass-half-full” people, take note: Ten of the 20 metro areas comprising the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index showed improvement in April 2012 compared to a year earlier, according to newly released data. Even the “glass-half-empty” set may find solace...
Governing Smarter… Not Harder
Public-private partnerships, intergovernmental cooperation, and remaining competitive in the global economy emerged as themes at the recent Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance Conference.
There’s an Interactive Tool for That!
A collection of online calculators and other interactive tools to help estimate income adjustments, employment trends, and housing affordability
Unemployment Trends Looking Brighter – for Most Metro Areas
Compared to a year earlier, unemployment rates were down in 342 of the 372 metropolitan areas in April 2012, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) press release. Other highlights of the latest BLS release: El Centro, California and Yuma, Arizona...
Improving Consumer Finances Could Boost State and Local Economies
State and local governments are not alone in their fiscal stress, which can have a reciprocal cause-and-effect relationship with consumer or household finances. With that in mind, it comes as little surprise that Nevada, a state that has been particularly plagued by...
The Financial Future of Detroit: Is the Motor City in Drive, Neutral or Reverse?
Budget Talks Continue as Detroit Tries to Untangle its Fiscal Crisis Detroit’s City Council is preparing to move ahead with its 2012-13 budget, even as the city awaits a decision about the legality of its consent agreement with the State, according to a Detroit...
Rising Student-Teacher Ratio: Not Necessarily a Simple Equation
Quality public education: (Most) everyone wants it, yet there is no clear cut, agreed-upon roadmap to achieve it - particularly as public school districts around the country have felt the sting of state funding cuts and shrinking local tax bases.In recent years,...
U.S. Immigration Trends: Numbers Continue to Rise
by guest contributor, Peter Fugiel, Ph.D. Legal Immigration Rate Held Steady during the Recession U.S. population to reach 420 million mid-century; 600 million possible by 2100? It is seldom that the sheer metrics of a trend are too big to comprehend. While everyone...
Florida Municipal Loan Council Launches Investor Relations Portal
The Florida Municipal Loan Council (FMLC), administered by the Florida League of Cities, is a pooled loan program for local government borrowers of all sizes. Established in 1998 as a way to help member entities finance or refinance projects, the FMLC has issued more...
Texas Ranks as Top State for Doing Business – Again!
Corporate executives rank Texas as the top state for doing business, according to a recently released report by Chief Executives. The 2012 report is based on a survey of 650 business leaders. Texas gets the thumbs-up for its business-friendly tax, regulatory...
States’ Increase in Tax Collections Buoys Optimism
State tax collections improve in 2011, but full economic recovery remains years away for many states
Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Municipal Bonds
Let’s face it, rarely do you overhear a backyard barbeque conversation about the latest best-selling encyclopedia that your neighbor was reading, but simply couldn’t put down ... But Joe Mysak, a columnist/author whose name is well known in the municipal bond...
Reflections from the Editor: Guiding the Municipal-Minded through the Internet Evolution
This year, MuniNet Guide celebrates its 15th anniversary. In March of 1997, after a year of research and development, the first issue of MuniNet Guide & Review was published as a 12-page hard-copy newsletter. At the time, the Internet was in its infancy, and...
The Fork in the Road: How a Local Government’s Approach to Fiscal Distress Can Determine Its Financial Future
Stockton, California may be the fiscally distressed municipality du jour, but it is certainly not alone in its financial struggles. What steps can a fiscally distressed local government take to avert financial crisis?
MuniNet Medley: 3/8/12 – MSRB Fact Book, Suffolk Co., Earnings and Education, Fenway Park
The total par amount of municipal securities traded fell by 12.6 percent in 2011, compared to 2010, according to according to the newly released Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Fact Book. The 2011 Fact Book, the fourth annual compendium of municipal...
National Mortgage Settlement Hints at a Solution for States
by guest contributor, Peter Fugiel, Ph.D. The recent $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement, an historic joint agreement between 49 states along with the federal government and the nation’s five largest loan servicers may seem insignificant in the context of...
Top Five Themes in 2012 State of the State Addresses
Job growth was the number one theme covered in this year’s State of the State speeches, according to a recent Loop Capital Markets analysis. Forty-one of the 43 governors delivering 2012 addresses included proposed actions to stimulate job growth and/or...
Help Wanted in South Dakota
While many states in the U.S. have been grappling with high unemployment rates, South Dakota has a somewhat unique quandary: more jobs than its current labor force can handle. Enter South Dakota Wins, a statewide workforce development initiative. The program, a...
The Rise, Fall, and Future of Not-for-Profit Hospital Debt Issuance
“With just 333 bond issues in 2011, not-for-profit hospital debt issuance dropped 17% year-over-year to approximately $23.9 billion. Of this amount, only $10.3 billion were used for new money purposes, while the remaining $13.6 billion was used for refunding...
MuniNet Medley: 2/8/12 – Harrisburg, Port Authority of NY & NJ, Texas Metros, School Finance
Harrisburg’s on-again, off-again bankruptcy returns to the headlines ... On Monday, state-appointed receiver David Unkovic released a proposed recovery plan, stating that “significant and difficult steps lie ahead” for the city, and that filing for...
MuniNet Medley: 2/1/12 – Unemployment Trends, Tracking Health Care Reform, Best Cities for Hospitals, Hard-Hit Cities
Congrats to Bismarck, North Dakota, the metro recording the lowest unemployment rate (3.2 percent) among U.S. metro areas in December 2011, according to the latest Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor...
Illinois Tollway Drivers Help Finance Roadway Improvements
On January 1, 2012, drivers using the Illinois Tollway system began digging a little deeper into their pockets to pay for the use of the highways. The toll rate increase was approved by the Illinois State Toll Highway Board in conjunction with its $12 billion Move...
MuniNet Medley: 1/23/12 – Louisville Performance Improvement, Harrisburg’s New Treasurer, Premont Cuts Sports, Rochester & Kodak
Louisville aims to improve government performance with private-sector strategies ….. Harrisburg voters elect new (young) city treasurer ….. Premont ISD cuts sports to save school ….. Kodak moments or memories in Rochester
Cities May Face Long Road to Recovery
Metro areas across the U.S. are seeing a glimmer of economic progress – but most still face a long, uphill climb toward a full recovery, according to a report released by IHS Global Insight as part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ U.S. Metro Economies...