Tax-exempt bonds

The positive side is the bipartisan legislation for reinstatement introduced by 10 House lawmakers last week has a high possibility of being included in any infrastructure legislation that passes that chamber.

Municipal bond industry groups have been clamoring for advance refundings to be reintroduced as well as an expansion of PABs and direct-pay bonds.

Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, said P3s already work in metropolitan areas and dialogue needs to be opened with smaller cities looking at P3s.

Calculating the remaining useful life of a port or airport facility can be problematic, but the IRS ruling released May 3 supports a simplified method of making this determination using the date of the new agreement as a starting point.

While groups were encouraged to see a bipartisan meeting with Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, some fear munis could be hurt in the compromise.

In the coming months bond lawyers expect numerous municipal governments to issue new bonds to support investments in Opportunity Zones.

The clarification allows dozens of otherwise stalled housing projects around the nation to move ahead with financing that includes a combination of tax exempt multifamily PABs and the 4% federal housing tax credit.

The Public Buildings Renewal Act would authorize $5 billion in private activity bonds for the construction or rehabilitation government-owned buildings.

If the IRS fails to provide a regulatory fix, two members of Congress may address the issue legislatively in bicameral affordable housing legislation that had wide bipartisan support in the last Congress.

Midwest Fertilizer Co. announced Monday it has settled with the IRS Office of Appeals an audit that originally disqualified the tax-exempt status of $1.259 billion of refunding bonds that will be used to help finance a fertilizer plant in Posey County, Indiana.