WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $12.84 million of unlimited tax school building bonds issued in 2010 by the Anahuac Independent School District in Texas as part of its examination of small governmental bond issues.
The IRS also has closed audits with no change to the tax-exempt status of $110.41 million of communications system revenue bonds issued in 2007 by Lafayette, La., and $169.76 million of general obligation bonds issued in 2008 by San Diego Unified School District.
The IRS examination and audit closures were disclosed by the issuers in event notices posted on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA system.
The IRS told Anahuac Independent School District officials in a Jan. 7 letter that it has "no reason to believe that your debt issuance fails to comply with any of the applicable tax requirements" and that the bonds "were selected for examination as part of a project involving issuances of small governmental bonds."
The bonds were issued to finance the construction, renovation, acquisition and equipping of sites for school facilities, according to the official statement. They are backed by ad valorem taxes levied annually against all taxable property located within the school district and by the Texas Permanent School Fund Guarantee Program.
The bonds were underwritten by RBC Capital Market and FirstSouthwest. Fulbright & Jaworski LLP and Feldman, Rogers, Morris & Grover LLP were co-bond counsel.
The San Diego Unified School District bonds were issued to finance school improvements, according to the OS. Citi and Goldman, Sachs & Co. were lead underwriters of a group that also included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, De La Rosa & Co. and Loop Capital Markets LLC. Bond counsel was Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
The Lafayette bonds were issued to finance the construction, acquisition, development, extension and improvement of a local communications network, according to the OS. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Keegan & Co. underwrote the bonds and Foley & Judell LLP was bond counsel.
