The Deal of the Year award, which recognizes innovation in municipal finance, is open to all transactions that closed between October 3, 2016, and September 29, 2017. The rules have been specifically crafted to encourage applications that represent the full diversity of the communities and public purposes that are served by the municipal finance market, from the largest to the smallest deals. As in past years,The Bond Buyer's editors will select five regional winners, reflecting the market's national scope. The editors will also award special prizes to the outstanding small-issuer transaction—conducted by a public or nonprofit entity with less than $70 million of revenues in its most recent fiscal year—as well as a winner for the outstanding "nontraditional" public finance deal. Nonprofit and public health care organizations will be eligible to compete in the national category, which was established in recognition of the fact that many hospital operators manage systems that extend across the paper's traditional regional boundaries. All winners will be invited to attend The Bond Buyer's Awards Gala at 583 Park Avenue on December 6, where a national Deal of the Year will be announced from among the finalists.