municipal law

Subscribe to municipal law via RSS

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…

On June 22, 2016, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decided the case of Township of Millcreek v. Angela Cres Trust of June 25, 1998, 1725 C.D. 2015, which decided whether 42 Pa.C.S. § 5505 applies to eminent domain cases.  Section 5505 provides, in pertinent part, “[e]xcept as otherwise provided or prescribed by law, a court…

Municipalities have been looking for new ways to “monetize” publicly owned assets to help fund pension obligations and relieve budgetary pressures. Especially attractive is the transfer of a municipal water or wastewater system to a private operator.

Such a transfer may be accomplished by entering into a long-term lease with a private operator, under what…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently announced its decision in the case of Kuren, et al. v. Luzerne County, et al., 57 MAP 2015 and 58 MAP 2015, finding that indigent defendants can be “constructively” denied counsel where underfunding of the Public Defender’s Office creates “widespread, systematic deficiencies” that “deprive indigent defendants of the traditional…

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…

I recently published an article in The Legal Intelligencer titled, “Real Estate Matters in Monetizing Municipal Assets.” From the article:

Municipalities under financial pressure from rising budgetary costs and long-term obligations are increasingly looking for options to “monetize” publicly owned assets through transfers to private entities. Especially attractive are municipal water and wastewater systems. With

…