The Grateful Dead were noted in their live performances for, among other things, beginning a song and then segueing to one or more other songs before concluding the first song in the thread. Sometimes, the Dead would wait several concerts to complete the original song. Today we emulate the Grateful Dead by completing a string … Continue Reading
Last week, we posted a story about the lawsuit brought by the Ohio Attorney General under Ohio’s “Art Modell Law” to prevent Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew from moving to Austin, Texas. We wondered aloud whether other states might enact similar laws if Ohio can succeed in preventing the Crew’s departure. Readers might have wondered … Continue Reading
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as introduced in the House of Representatives on November 2, 2017, would have prohibited the issuance after that date of tax-exempt bonds to finance a professional sports stadium. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as enacted, did not contain this prohibition. Even if it had, it would likely not … Continue Reading
On February 13, the Trump Administration released its proposal to finance improvements of the nation’s infrastructure. This proposal promotes the use of public-private partnership (“P3”) arrangements to fund these improvements by expanding exempt facility bonds (a type of tax-exempt private activity bond that can be used to finance a list of specific types of projects, … Continue Reading
On June 13, 2017, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the latest bill (S. 1342) (“Senate Bill”) intended to end tax-exempt financing of professional sports stadiums. The Senate Bill mirrors the bill (H.R. 811) introduced by Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) on February 1, 2017, reported in this blog by Johnny Hutchinson … Continue Reading
Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., recently introduced a bill (H.R. 4838) in the House to prohibit tax-exempt financing of professional sports stadiums and for-profit entertainment facilities. This is only the most recent in a string of similar proposals, including by President Obama and former Senator Tom Coburn. In this case, tax-exempt financing would be prohibited for … Continue Reading
While sitting through several sessions at the Bond Attorneys Workshop last week, I heard references to “measurement period” in different contexts. Although trying to stay focused on the always scintillating discussion, my mind wandered to the good and the bad of that concept. This post explores certain consequences of measurement period, including some surprising results.… Continue Reading
The IRS recently issued PLR 201519015 which concluded that payments made by private persons that have “little connection” to the bond-financed property are not “private payments” that count against the private payment limit. The IRS concluded that there was little connection between fares paid by bus riders and a bond-financed highway where the fares were … Continue Reading
