Mortgages to reward users of public transit

Hoping to ease traffic and revive older suburbs, Fannie Mae is offering bigger mortgages to people who buy homes near train stations and bus stops and agree to own just one car.

After a modest debut in a few cities, the program was introduced this week in Philadelphia. Fannie Mae is hoping to offer it soon in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Baltimore, Louisville, Ky., and other communities.

Buyers who purchase a home within a quarter-mile of a bus line or a half-mile of a train station can qualify for a mortgage up to 8 percent larger than they could get under a traditional loan.

Plans currently do not call for the program to be offered in Lawrence, which operates a public bus system, pictured above. But Fannie Mae officials do plan on introducing the program in at least one college community, State College, Pa.

Kansas City, Mo.: Aquila faces $2 million lawsuit for tax breaks

A Kansas City, Mo., redevelopment agency wants a unit of Aquila Inc. to refund about $2 million in tax breaks received from the city.

A lawsuit against Aquila Merchants Services Inc. was filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court by the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority.

The lawsuit accuses the company of breaching an agreement to maintain its business operations at a certain level after it moved into the Town Pavilion in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Aquila has announced plans to close the business operations.

Leo Morton, Aquila’s chief administrative officer, expressed disappointment with the redevelopment authority’s lawsuit.

Finances: Postal Service expects to post loss of $1 billion

The Postal Service expects to finish this fiscal year with a loss of $1.2 billion, slightly less than the agency anticipated, Postmaster General John Potter said Friday.

The agency had anticipated a loss of $1.35 billion for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Potter attributed the improvement to aggressive cost-cutting by the agency.

The Postal Service has been battered by declining mail volume due to the recession and by the anthrax-by-mail threats last fall. Federal officials have yet to arrest anyone in connection with the case.

International: EU’s economic officials indicate slow growth

European Union finance ministers confronted more economic gloom on Friday that will further hamper the euro-zone’s biggest nations as they struggle to control their budget deficits.

The EU’s top economics official indicated the economy of the 12-nation euro-zone to expand less than 1 percent this year, less than even the modest 1.4 percent official forecast by the European Commission.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin admitted his country would not be able to meet its target of 3 percent growth in 2003 a level seen as essential if France is to reduce its budget deficit in line with EU regulations.