Municipal disclosure

As climate and cybersecurity risks intensify, Jeff Lipton argues it's time for the legal community to lead a new era of municipal disclosure — tightening language, clarifying exposures, and ensuring investor confidence.

The attackers did not steal any data, but the firm had to rebuild its servers to get back into operation, said Albert Rodriguez, a manager at ImageMaster.

"If I wanted to target municipal finance, this would be a really good place for me to start," said Omid Rahmani, public finance cybersecurity lead at Fitch Ratings.

Four cities were ordered to halt recent tax hikes pending an investigation of whether they complied with a state law that enforces a deadline for annual audits.

Political dysfunction is far and away the leading economic and policy concern for muni market participants, according to a new Bond Buyer infrastructure survey.

The college's most recent annual comprehensive financial report is for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, and S&P is concerned by the lack of timely reporting.

Nevada's audited 2023 financials were released more than two years after the fiscal year ended. The state controller says structural changes will reduce delays.

Port Freeport's decision to go property tax-free resulted in a revenue bond rating downgrade from S&P and raised disclosure questions.

The legislature, which returns to respond to recent floods, could also take up bills to curb local property taxes, including bills aimed at bond issuance.

Questions over what to disclose in the bond document's risk section has concerned issuers for years, through issues like the pandemic to climate change, and now potential federal funding cuts.