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Practice Areas - Public Finance
Our public finance practice is headed by Tom Pollan, a board-certified administrative lawyer with broad experience handling public finance transactions for public sector clients. We have been assisting cities, counties, school districts, and other public entities with their public financing requirements since the 1980's, when local government officials requested that we develop this area of practice because they had become frustrated with the public finance professionals serving their entity. Since that time, the firm has served as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel or issuer's counsel in hundreds of transactions.
Our public lawyers do more than just practice "bond law." In our view, public finance requires more than an understanding of federal tax law. It is important to have a thorough understanding of the substantive laws that are applicable to the local governments that are issuing bonds. Laws such as the Open Meetings Act and the purchasing laws may apply to various issuers, and government clients deserve representation from lawyers knowledgeable about government operations.
We have extensive experience with various financing arrangements, including General Obligation Bonds, Certificates of Obligation, Contractual Obligations, Revenue Bonds, Refunding Bonds, Tax Notes, Certificates of Participation, and Lease Purchase Contracts. We also have experience in economic development issues such as development corporations, tax abatements and tax increment financing.
We routinely represent issuers needing quick turnaround. As bond counsel, we are prepared to handle statutory notice requirements, preclearance by the United States Department of Justice, and the current review times for the Attorney General of Texas with speed and efficiency.
Handling the required documentation in a timely manner with a focus on the details is the hallmark of a premier bond counsel. For our clients, we prepare all bond ordinances, financing agreements, contracts, certificates and other documents to which the governmental entity is a party and that will be required in connection with the issuance of its bonds. All documents evidence compliance with the laws of the State of Texas pertaining to the validity of the bonds and tax-exempt status of the interest earnings on the bonds. We also provide assistance to the financial advisor in the preparation of the official statement or other disclosure documents, including the description of the bonds and the security therefor. We attend document sessions and meetings of the staff, council, board or commission as needed.
Based on our review of the proceedings, we render legal opinions regarding whether the bonds issued by the government entity are valid and binding under Texas law and excludable from gross income under existing federal income tax law if the bonds issued are tax-exempt bonds. In case the bonds are intended to be taxable for certain types of transactions, our opinion reflects that fact.
Our bond lawyers prepare the form of the bond. We attend the bond sale, signing, closing and all other meetings and conferences requested by our clients. We prepare and assemble the transcript of the bond proceedings and submit it to the Attorney General for approval. We also submit the transcript for registration by the Comptroller of Public Accounts and assemble a final transcript of the proceedings for the client. For tax-exempt financings, we prepare the No Arbitrage Certificate and the Form 8038-G, which we file with the Internal Revenue Service.
In some cases, bond elections are required before the bond process can be completed. Our elections team has extensive experience advising clients on bond elections and, if needed, conducting those elections. Between 1996 and 2004, we assisted Austin Independent School District on the election aspects of three successful bond elections in which voters have authorized over $900,000,000 for school projects.
Challenges to bond issues sometimes involve litigation. Our bond lawyers and litigators have extensive experience defending against challenges. For example, in 1982, a taxpayers group challenged the authority of the Burleson County Hospital District to issue bonds by filing an action in Travis County. Our firm was serving as bond counsel to the District, and on their behalf we filed a validation lawsuit that was tried by Tom Pollan. The District was able to obtain a temporary injunction against the taxpayer; the taxpayer dismissed his lawsuit; and the bonds were then issued by the District and approved by the Attorney General.
In addition to filing our own pro forma validation lawsuits for our clients' bonds, we have represented other entities who were not bond clients. For example, we successfully defended the authority of Calhoun county to issue its tax notes. In that instance, we successfully defended the authority of the county to issue its tax notes.
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Attorneys who practice Public Finance
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LGS '08- Public Finance Issues for Cities, Counties, and Special Districts in Texas