New York Hurricane Sandy Assistance Programs Target Small Business

By Anita W. Laremont and John R. Forbush - Although flood waters have receded and electricity has been restored, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy continues to present challenges to New York State’s small business community. The risk-modeling firm, Eqecat, estimates that Sandy’s economic toll will be as high as $50 billion - of which only $10-20 billion will be covered by insurers…

Municipal Borrowing May Become More Expensive

By Christopher A. Andreucci - The Wall Street Journal is reporting that both Republicans and Democrats are in agreement regarding a portion of the fiscal cliff debate occurring in Washington and are willing to consider taxing at least a portion of municipal-bond interest…

Schumer/Menendez Encourage Congress to Approve their Proposal for Issuance of Post-Sandy Recovery Bonds

By Christopher A. Andreucci - As we recently posted, Congress is considering proposals to assist the communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. As you may remember, there was a growing call for Congress to adopt a program to allow for the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to assist in the recovery efforts, similar to that adopted by Congress following 911 and Hurricane Katrina…

Tax-Exempt Bonds Could Speed Hurricane Recovery

By Christopher A. Andreucci and Katarzyna D. Murphy - Congress is considering a proposal to let local governments use tax-exempt bonds to finance recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy, but the debate over the fiscal cliff may cause some lawmakers to oppose the measure…

Congress to Consider Giving Local Governments a Second Bite at the Apple for Savings

By Christopher A. Andreucci - Interesting story in today’s The Bond Buyer. A bill has been introduced in Congress which would allow municipalities, school districts and non-for-profit corporations to refund outstanding bonds a second time (currently not allowed under the IRS Code) to allow these entities to take advantage of the historically low interest rates…

Novel Question Being Raised in Westchester County Regarding LDC Qualifications to Issue Tax-Exempt Bonds

By Christopher A. Andreucci - In an interesting story being reported in the Journal News, apparently the county executive and county board of legislators have been unable to reach an agreement regarding the formation of a Local Development Corporation to act as an "on-behalf of" issuer of Westchester County for the benefit of non-profit organizations within the county…