by Bob Jessup | Oct 30, 2014 | Blog
Lawyers often ask their local government clients to waive conflicts of interest. Here are some suggested rules for how a local government should handle conflict waiver requests from its outside lawyers: Rule #1 Keep in mind that it’s in the outside lawyer’s interest...
by Bob Jessup | Oct 15, 2014 | Blog
When a North Carolina local government unit applies to the Local Government Commission (the “LGC”) for its approval of an installment financing, the unit has to supply an opinion of the unit’s attorney as part of the application package. The LGC’s Form The LGC’s...
by Bob Jessup | Oct 10, 2014 | Blog
Recent changes to North Carolina election laws restrict a local government’s ability to hold referenda on general obligation (“G.O.”) bonds. The main takeaway is this: G.O. bond elections now can be held only on dates when all the voting precincts in the...
by Bob Jessup | Jun 6, 2014 | Blog
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services recently sent a letter to the local governments for which it maintains ratings – apparently that’s about 20,000 issuers across the United States. In the letter, S&P tells issuers they need to send to S&P documents from...
by Bob Jessup | Jun 6, 2014 | Blog
Back in February, I posted this article on why I think the LGC’s proposed debt maturity guidelines are unfair as applied to refundings of long-term USDA debt. In March, the LGC staff said it would assemble a small stakeholders group to work through the proposed...
by Bob Jessup | Jun 1, 2014 | Blog
Every lawyer probably has his or her own list. Let me mention three that affect the North Carolina local government and public finance practice. Change the existing prohibition on “gifts and favors” Section 133-32 of the General Statutes may be the biggest joke in the...
