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Following its announcement in August that it had entered into settlements with over seventy municipal issuers in connection with the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative, there was speculation as to whether additional settlements would be announced, or if this first round of settlements represented all of the enforcement actions against municipal issuers that…

In this podcast, McNees Public Finance attorney Tim Horstmann discusses the recent announcement by the Internal Revenue Service of a major change in its treatment of management contracts entered into by governmental entities and nonprofit associations exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

View the podcast here.

Prefer…

A recent decision by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PUC” or “Commission”) confirms that Pennsylvania public utilities with combined sewer systems (i.e., systems that collect both sewage and stormwater) may incorporate stormwater charges in their service charges.  While some public utilities have already been incorporating stormwater collection charges in their sewage rates, not all…

In the first federal jury trial against a municipality for securities law violations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 14, 2016 successfully obtained a verdict against the City of Miami and a former city official for violations of various anti-fraud provisions of  US securities laws.  The SEC is seeking injunctive relief and…

The Internal Revenue Service, in Revenue Procedure 2016-44, has loosened the restrictions on safe harbors for management contracts entered into by governmental issuers of tax-exempt bonds in connection with facilities financed by such bonds. The revenue procedure, which will be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin on September 6, 2016, is a welcome development for…

The SEC announced today enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers of bonds in connection with the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative.  The enforcement actions follow previous announcements from the agency, charging 72 municipal underwriting firms with similar violations discovered through voluntary reporting under MCDC.

The MCDC Initiative was announced by the SEC in…

Nearly two years after Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse first proposed it, the Harrisburg School District has approved a new, ten-year tax abatement program for residential and commercial development in the city.

As reported by The Patriot News:

The program would provide a 100-percent tax break for 10 years to improvements on residential properties

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The Borough of New Cumberland recently signed an agreement to sell its sewer system to Pennsylvania American Water.

The deal is reportedly for $23 million.  Per The Patriot News:

The sale will eliminate $16 million in debt the borough has. Pa. American Water also agreed to invest $2 million in wastewater and other

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The Pennsylvania 2015-2016 Budget Impasse may be (technically) over, but it just claimed another victim.  From The Bond Buyer:

Standard & Poor’s has discontinued its underlying rating for credit enhancement programs on rated Pennsylvania school districts.

S&P announced the policy change Tuesday afternoon as an additional step to its December withdrawal of ratings based

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