Public Finance and Economic Development

Practice Area

Harris Beach represents every major New York state agency and more than 90 municipalities as bond counsel and also represents the leading underwriters as underwriting counsel on major state bond transactions. Our economic development practice handles showcase projects statewide, represents more than two dozen Industrial Development Agencies, and has distinguished itself by delivering creative and unique solutions which unite the related private and public sector parties necessary to propel large development projects forward and help ensure their successful completion.

We keep clients current with the requirements of frequently-changing legislation, such as helping authorities comply with the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005 and the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009.

Our attorneys handle transactions involving FHA-insured mortgage revenue bonds, letter of credit secured financings, bond insured financings and unrated issues. We handle projects financed through a number of state agencies, such as the Dormitory Authority of New York State, the New York State Housing Finance Agency and others; projects financed through local industrial development agencies and housing authorities; and a variety of projects that are 63-20 financings. We work closely with clients on all aspects of their business finances and legal planning.

Our attorneys participate in the following types of projects and financings:

Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Health-Related and Independent Living Facilities

Our attorneys have extensive experience in all types of health care and health-related facility financings, from hospitals and nursing homes to a variety of senior living facilities, including lifecare and other continuing care retirement communities, independent living facilities, assisted living facilities and adult homes. In addition, the attorneys in the firm’s health services practice, represent a broad cross-section of health care providers throughout the state on corporate, regulatory and tax matters.

Housing

Our attorneys have extensive experience in single- and multi-family housing, tax credit and subsidy programs for low and moderate income residential retail projects, including financings through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the New York City Housing Development Corporation and local housing authorities.

Educational Facilities

We regularly serve as bond counsel and underwriters counsel on financings for colleges, private not-for-profit schools, library systems, and educational facilities for developmentally disabled children. These financings are often secured by state, local school district, or other third-party reimbursement revenue streams.

Industrial Development and Exempt Facility Financings

Our attorneys handle all types of small issue manufacturing facility financings and exempt facility financings, including solid and hazardous waste disposal facilities, public dock and wharf facilities, airport facilities, and sewage facilities. Harris Beach serves as agency counsel, developer counsel or transactional counsel in all types of economic development projects. In these capacities, we have significant experience in all types of Industrial Development Agency (IDA) sale/leaseback transactions. Harris Beach attorneys utilize a variety of economic development tools to the maximum extent in bringing multiple programs and related experiences to projects identified by our IDA clients, including Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits, State Environmental Bond Act funding, New Markets Tax Credits, economic development through condemnation, PILOT Increment and Tax Increment financings, HUD 108 Loans and BEDI Grants, creative use of Empire Zone benefits and many other areas that are often overlooked or not fully understood.

Our attorneys work closely with our corporate, tax and environmental attorneys to counsel clients on all aspects of site acquisition and zoning and development approvals, as well as structuring financing packages. We work in partnership with our clients and often with a local issuer counsel operated by the IDA to balance their needs with the many constituencies affected by large development projects and work effectively with construction teams to conclude projects in a timely and cost-effective way.

The firm has significant experience with public benefit corporations developing urban areas through the use of IDAs, urban renewal agencies, condemnation, annexation, increment financing and programs as unique and varied as New Market Tax Credits, Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits, Empire Zone Credits, Low Income Housing Credits and Historic Tax Credits.

Water Distribution and Sewer Facilities: We serve as bond counsel to local water and sewer authorities and we handle revenue bond financings for these entities involving loans or agreements to both private and public entities. As bond counsel to municipalities throughout New York state, we participate in revolving loan financings through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation.

Public Infrastructure: Our attorneys handle projects involving sports arenas, convention centers, recreational facilities, and public parking garages.

General Obligation Financings: Our attorneys serve as bond counsel on all types of general obligation financings, including long-term serial bonds, statutory installment bonds, and short-term bonds, tax and revenue anticipation notes and budget notes.

Municipal Tax-Exempt Leases/COPS: Our attorneys serve as bond counsel to municipalities and school districts on tax-exempt equipment lease financings, including financings of energy performance contracts.

Harris Beach also has extensive experience with Certificate of Participation financings.

Disclosure

The firm is on retainer to the New York State Division of the Budget (DOB) as Public Finance and Disclosure Counsel and provides advice to DOB on a wide range of state law and federal securities law issues as well as general disclosure matters, including the implementation and compliance with the state’s annual secondary market disclosure obligations. In addition, members of the firm served as special disclosure counsel to the underwriters in connection with general obligation bonds issued by the State of Connecticut and the State of Louisiana.

Appropriation-Backed Financings

Firm attorneys have considerable experience in appropriation-backed financings having served as bond counsel, special tax counsel or underwriters’ counsel on more than 140 financing transactions involving approximately $19 billion. The financings have been undertaken to construct or reconstruct park facilities, construct and repair highways and to advance refund prior bond issues, construct parking facilities, fund new hospital construction and advance refund prior bond issues, construct homeless housing, construct state and local correctional facilities, fund the construction and renovation of dormitory facilities for the State University System, fund the acquisition of equipment and realty by various departments of state government, and fund the construction of school facilities.

Public Finance Tax Representation

The firm is routinely involved in the interpretation and resolution of arbitrage and rebate issues on a professional practice basis as well as in the development of regulations on those topics. As bond counsel, the firm advises clients on methods of decreasing the transferred proceeds penalty for the advance refunding of outstanding (low to high refunding) debt, provides ongoing advice with respect to reimbursement issues (including reimbursement of a related entity), sizing short-term and long-term cash flow and working capital borrowings to minimize rebate liability, rebate exceptions and strategies, and other means of maximizing earnings while minimizing rebate. The firm also provides advice on maximizing earnings and minimizing rebate through the coordinated use of reimbursement, short term forward funding, and the market sensitive sizing of reserve funds. In addition, the firm provides ongoing tax advice to clients as to the types of expenditures which are capital and thus qualify for reimbursement and for long term (rather than working capital) bonding, and methods of minimizing or eliminating negative arbitrage.

Derivative Products/Swaps and Non-Fixed Rate Debt

In its role as bond counsel, firm attorneys have been asked to pass upon state law and tax issues with respect to the ability of issuers to utilize derivative products and to otherwise invest in investments which are not strictly identified in any applicable list of permitted investments, and, in its role as underwriters’ counsel, to address various disclosure issues with respect to the use of derivative products in connection with a particular financing. Advice was provided on numerous innovative financings and is continually involved in the analysis of progressive financing structures. These structures include fixed rate bonds synthetically divided into lower floaters and residual interest pieces, total return swaps, hedges and caps, swaps, and the use of floating rate debt in advance refundings. In addition, we have been involved in forward transactions for bonds which legally cannot be advance refunded. The firm has extensive experience with floating rate debt, zero coupon debt, mini-bonds, taxable debt, concurrent, multiple series of bonds with different structural characteristics, insurance flips, and combinations of all of the foregoing.