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How can you borrow money to pay for downtown improvements? Try special obligation bonds.
Sprucing up downtown often includes projects like streetscape improvements, or street work to improve circulation (and fix up the utilities while we’re at it), and improved parking, bike lanes, and other services. We are so used to using installment financing for...
Referendum transparency or through a glass, darkly?
There’s a new bill in the General Assembly, known as Senate Bill 99 and entitled “bond referendum transparency,” that seeks to provide more information to voters about a bond referendum. It’s a follow-up proposal to legislation we’ve written about before. The bill...
What are Managers and Finance Officers worrying about?
There’s always a list. Here’s what I’ve picked up lately from a variety of conversations and presentations. Inflation, and its effect on direct costs and interest rates. Investment rates are rising in the same fashion. Supply chain disruptions – maybe improving, but...
To increase local government investment in housing, expand the use of special obligation bonds
How can our local government financially support additional development of affordable housing in our community? Gone (mostly) are the days when local governments didn’t perceive an affordable housing issue in their communities. And the answers are generally clear as...
Happy New Year!
As we get to the start of 2023, we offer this list of items to keep in mind as you plan for new capital projects and manage your existing projects. Here are a few things to think about at least once a year: Review compliance with your financing covenants. If you have...
Thinking about a 2023 Bond Referendum? Here are a few things to keep in mind
We’ve had a few inquiries in the last few months about planning for a 2023 bond referendum. If you’re thinking about it, here are a few points to keep in mind -- There are fewer eligible dates for bond referenda than there used to be. You can only have a bond...
The 45-day letter and State utility loans
We’ve written before about the requirement to send a notice to the “Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government,” with that notice due 45 days before the LGC considers a borrowing. It’s come up recently that not everyone is aware that requirement applies even when...
Five ways you can mess up your financing, before we’ve even heard about it
Bond lawyers and financial advisors clamor to be included in discussions about a financing project as early as possible. Sometimes you as a local government can take early steps on a project that will complicate your financing process. Bringing us in as soon as you...
Five Things to Remember about Your Private Partner When Starting a Public-Private Partnership
Your private partner is not your friend. They may all be nice people, and they may have a friendly demeanor in your meetings -- but they are not in your community to do you a favor. You need to look out for yourself, and be sure to verify everything they tell you....
NC Supreme Court finds no attorney-client privilege in internal investigation records that aren’t for “giving or receiving legal advice”
In Buckley, LLP v Series 1 of Oxford Ins. Comp., the North Carolina Supreme Court (per curiam) upheld a Business Court decision finding that records of an internal company investigation, even if carried out by an attorney, are not necessarily protected by the...