- In a precedent-setting decision that could have major ramifications for issuers, the IRS has ruled that a Florida Community Development District is not a political subdivision that can issue tax-exempt bonds.
- Panelists at a GFOA conference warned issuers to be wary of dealer contracts that might violate municipal securities rules and to make sure they are using properly registered municipal advisors.
- Chenango Forks Cent. School Dist. v. New York State Public Employment Relations Bd., in which the court upheld a determination of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) which found that school district had committed an improper employer practice by failing to negotiate discontinuance of its longstanding practice of reimbursing retirees’ Medicare Part B premiums.
- Candlewood Hills Tax Dist. v. Medina, in which a Connecticut court held that a taxing district’s board members do not owe a fiduciary duty to the district’s residents.
- Freeny v. City of San Buenaventura, holding that public employees’ tort immunity for legislative decision-making applies even when that decision-making is also alleged to involve the making of misrepresentations motivated by “actual fraud, corruption or actual malice.”
- Weaver v. Madison City Bd. of Educ., in which the court concluded that a local city school board is a political subdivision, not an arm of the State, and thus not immune from suit in USERRA claim.
- WSJ: Should You Buy Taxable Muni Bonds?
- WSJ: Record Muni Bankruptcy Nears End; Jefferson County’s Creditors Agree to Forgive $1.2 Billion of Debt; Hedge Funds Stand to Profit in Deal. NYT: Bankruptcy in Alabama County Offers Warning for Other Municipalities. NYT: A County in Alabama Strikes a Bankruptcy Deal.
- Other things we learned this week include: in Missouri, “nepotism” includes paying your deadbeat son-in-law $100 to fix a wooden sign (Chicago politicians must have got a hearty chuckle out of that one); Minnesota has something called the “Buy-the-Farm” statute; a minor altercation with an autistic 12 year-old is highly unlikely to result in PTSD; a case involving the validity of 14 absentee ballots made it all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court; and the NIMBY meter goes right off the chart when constructing a facility for the criminally insane.