Tax-exempt bonds

Cross, who served as associate tax legislative counsel at the Office of Tax Policy until Friday, said that he resigned in order to be closer to family.

Iowa accounted for $16 million of the approximately $36.1 million in aggie bonds issued in 2017, according to a recent survey by the Council of Development Finance Agencies.

The number of trades decreased about 16% to 2.01 million from the same quarter in 2018.

California, Massachusetts and New York came closest to utilizing their volume caps for PABs in 2018, according to a recent survey by the Council of Development Finance Agencies.

The number of letter rulings fell to four in 2018 when the fee rose to $28,300, from 16 rulings in 2008 when the fee was only $11,500.

S&P Global reports state HFAs are maintaining high ratings this year, “buoyed by demand for affordable housing and mortgages, low interest rates, relatively low unemployment, increasing wages, and the overall strong domestic economy.”

Public safety and jail bonds, sinking fund overfunding and variable rate bonds are the top IRS compliance and enforcement priorities for the municipal bond market in fiscal 2020.

Despite his pessimism about legislation, Mayor Steve Benjamin was upbeat about the effort by himself and other advocates of the municipal bond industry to get out their message.

Internal Revenue Service enforcement officials told NABL workshop attendees the service is hiring five new revenue agents, up from the current 20, and two additional tax law specialists.

Rich Moore takes over the top spot at NABL during the first day of a three-day annual conference in Chicago.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Thursday it is expanding the Rental Assistance Demonstration program to Section 202 PRAC units that house senior citizens.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies recommends that conduit issuers cover their costs by imposing fees.

The bipartisan legislation would increase the bank-qualified cap to $30 million from $10 million, a high priority for several muni market groups.

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee touts his bill as “a good example of giving businesses an incentive to lower carbon emissions without forcing it upon them with regulations.”

The impact of defaults by non-GO bonds was negligible to nonexistent on the ratings of GO bonds issued by the same local governments.

Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, on Wednesday delayed filing the bill in conjunction with a Public Finance Network event with congressional staff that highlighted the benefits of these bank private placements as well as advance refunding.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates there are 990,000 electric vehicles on the road this year and that number will grow to 1.5 million next year and 2.17 million in 2021.

Bank qualified debt, also known as BQ debt and bank eligible, allows banks to deduct most of the carrying cost of those bonds as a business cost.

Under the bill, if more than 65% of carbon dioxide emissions from a given facility are captured and injected underground, then 100% of the eligible equipment can be financed with PABs.

The association filed a court brief supporting Indian River County’s appeal of private activity bonds for the privately owned passenger train project.