municipal law

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A recent Commonwealth Court decision affirmed that municipalities within Pennsylvania are not immune from claims of adverse possession.  In City of Philadelphia v. Galdo, 181 A3d. 1289 (Pa. Commw. 2018), the Commonwealth Court held that the City of Philadelphia had lost title to a property that it had previously condemned to an adjacent property owner who adversely possessed the property.
Continue Reading Municipalities Can Lose Property Through Adverse Possession

On May 23, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 234, which creates the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program. SB 234, which was approved by the Senate in January of this year, would help owners of agricultural, commercial and industrial properties obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy projects. The program would not include multifamily housing or other residential property.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Legislature Approves New Municipal Alternative Energy Program

On Monday, May 14, the United States Supreme Court announced its eagerly awaited decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association and, as many expected, struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law that prohibits states from authorizing and regulating sports wagering.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Opens Door to Sports Betting in all Fifty States

McNees attorney Claudia Shank recently authored a series of blog posts on the McNees Land Use Blog on the Supreme Court’s revival of the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The Environmental Rights Amendment provides in pertinent part:

Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people including generations yet to

…

When Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) late last year, a much-heralded provision of TCJA was the reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate, from 35% to 21%. However, that reduction has had unforeseen consequences for the municipal bond industry. The reduction in the tax rate is expected to result in efforts by banks to increase the interest rates charged by banks for current outstanding loans to municipalities and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Whether a bank may increase the interest rate on a loan will depend on the language of the loan documents. Even if the loan documents permit the bank to unilaterally increase the interest rate, some banks may be hesitant to do so, as the request is may be received poorly, potentially jeopardizing the bank’s ongoing relationship with the borrower.
Continue Reading Continuing Disclosure in the Municipal Bond Market: Importance of Compliance

On March 22, 2018, a cyberattack hit the City of Atlanta.  A ransomware program infected the City’s computer systems.  That malware encrypted the city’s files, and officials believe it may also have provided unauthorized access to the City’s data to a group of hackers (although, the City says it has not yet “seen any evidence that personal information has been misused as a result”).  The hackers demanded a ransom payment of six bitcoin (valued at approximately $50,000).
Continue Reading Atlanta Cyberattack Shows Importance of Cybersecurity for Municipalities

On March 29, 2018, the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) formally requested guidance from the IRS regarding the ability of municipal issuers to issue tax-exempt advance refunding bonds to refund taxable bonds after the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The request comes on the heels of public statements by Treasury and IRS representatives regarding their belief that notwithstanding the passage of TCJA, municipal issuers may continue to issue tax-exempt advance refunding bonds to refund taxable bonds, so long as the taxable bonds to be refunded are not tax-advantaged bonds such as Build America Bonds, and the refunding otherwise complies with the requirements of section 149 of the Code and the regulations thereto.
Continue Reading NABL Requests IRS Guidance on Tax-Exempt Advance Refundings of Taxable Bonds

Sewage backups tend to make relationships between landowners and their municipal sewer authorities rather, well, messy.  When property is impacted by a sewer authority’s negligence, landowners would typically find a remedy in a trespass action.  However, a recent decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that repeated sewage backups may cause a de facto taking under the Pennsylvania Eminent Domain code, requiring compensation to the landowner.  This is yet another area of concern and possible liability for municipal authority operators.
Continue Reading Sewer Authorities Could Owe Compensation for Repeated Sewage Overflows