• Webb v. First Tennessee Brokerage, Inc., in which the court held that a purchaser of Lehman Brothers bonds was not required to arbitrate dispute with broker; cautionary tale for brokerage firm clients.
• Wall Street Journal article on an investment firm specializing in distressed municipal debt.
• IRS announces new Exempt Organizations Workshops focusing on changes to Form 990.
• GASB’s white paper articulating the differences between private sector and governmental accounting.
• MSRB discusses questionable dealer contracts and plans for new rules concerning financial advisory contracts with issuers that appear to disclaim away the dealers’ legal and regulatory obligations.
• SEC charges the city of Victorville, underwriter, and others with defrauding municipal bond investors.
• Otherwise, it was a rather strange week, characterized by inept discus throwers, inscrutable private letter rulings, the Connecticut Supreme Court’s seminal ruling that a deck is not a “building,” and the terrifying precedent created by a Tennessee court’s ruling that there exists no constitutional right to a liquor store.  Your editor must now find a new rational basis for his continuing existence.

• First Arkansas Bank & Trust, Trustee v. Gill Elrod Ragon Owen & Sherman, P.A., in which the Supreme Court of Arkansas discusses the liability of issuer’s counsel to purchasers in bond offering, finding: 1) no liability under state securities act; 2) no relationship giving rise to a duty under contract, negligence, or breach of a fiduciary duty; but 3) existence of a question of material fact as to whether liability could flow to the law firm under the fraud exception to privity set out under the attorney-malpractice statute.
• Hillcrest Property, LLP v. Pasco County, in which the court struck down a novel eminent domain work-around in which the county would deny development permits to landowners that did not “voluntarily” convey – in fee simple and without compensation – that portion of their land that encroached into the development corridor.
• Barrett v. Henry, in which the appeals court upheld the the traditional financing system in which bond proceeds are deposited into a working cash fund to enable the district to finance operations during the period before the property taxes levied for that purpose have been collected; legitimate alternative to the issuance of tax anticipation warrants.
• IRS: Affordable Care Act Provisions Phone Forum: The IRS will be conducting a phone forum on April 30, 2013 to discuss key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are currently in effect. 

You may find the following items in this issue of particular interest:

• Kaplan v. Shanahan, in which the court affirmed an arbitration award in which the prevailing party was awarded attorneys’ fees, as the parties had agreed to be bound by FINRA arbitration rules, which permit such fees.
• State v. McElroy, in which a city ordinance restricting the volume of music emanating from an electronic device located within a motor vehicle that is being operated on a public street is not unconstitutionally overbroad or vague.
• Larimer County Board of Commissioners, et. al. v. Colorado Property Tax Administrator and YMCA of the Rockies, in which the court held that the Board of Assessment did not apply the proper legal standards when it denied a YMCA facility both religious purpose and charitable use tax exemptions.
• The IRS has released the new Form 14429, Tax Exempt Bonds Voluntary Closing Agreement Program Request.

You may find the following items in this issue of particular interest:

• Wells Fargo Advantage Nat. Tax Fee Fund v. Helicon Associates, Inc., in which the appeals court reversed summary judgment in favor of a law firm on securities law and negligent representation allegations in connection with a bond issuance for which the firm served as underwriters’ counsel.
• Municipality of Bremanger v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., in which the district court declined to hold Citigroup liable for losses sustained by Norwegian municipalities that invested in a Citi fund, finding that Norwegian broker neglected to convey risk disclosures provided to it by Citi.
• MSRB has received approval from the SEC to expand disclosures related to contributions made by municipal securities dealers to bond ballot measure campaigns.
• The Big Seven state and local government associations, and the GFOA released “Pension Funding Guide: A Guide for Local Officials” to provide key facts about public pension plans and a brief overview of which issues state and local officials should address.
• The IRS’ proposed regulations (REG-106499-12) that provide guidance to charitable hospital organizations on the community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements and related excise tax and reporting obligations.

You may find the following items in this issue of particular interest:

• In re Blue Ridge Housing of Bakersville LLC, in which a North Carolina court held that a nonprofit organization was the “owner” of low income housing development, and thus development entitled to property tax exemption, even though nonprofit had only a 0.1% legal ownership interest in the development in a case of first impression.
• Sherman v. Development Authority of Fulton County, in which a Georgia appeals court rejected the sufficiency of the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in a bond validation proceeding, finding mere boilerplate recitations and conclusions rather than actual evidence and analysis.
• City of Atlanta v. City of College Park, in which the Supreme Court of Georgia held that municipalities are not “local authorities” that are exempt from the imposition of occupation taxes and thus College Park could properly levy an occupation tax on Atlanta for its proprietary operations occurring within College Park.
• SIFMA’s white paper urging underwriters to disclose issuer designation of their counsel.
• IRS’s publication of population figures for housing credit and private bond purposes.

You may find the following items in this issue of particular interest:

• Borikas, et al. v. Alameda Unified School District, in which a California appeals court found that that parcel tax’s residential/commercial property classifications and differential tax burdens based on property size exceeded the school district’s taxing authority.

• Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority v. Gil Reyes, et al., in which a Colorado appeals court rejected a county assessor’s TIF calculation that included property in the base value while removing that same property from the newly assessed value.

• Borough of Paramus v. County of Bergen, in which the New Jersey tax court held  that leasing tax-exempt hospital property to a third-party on a for-profit basis does not affect the exempt status of the property since the hospital continues to serve the public purpose set forth by the tax statute.

• The IRS has released a new form required for a Tax Exempt Bonds Voluntary Closing Agreement Program submission request – Form 14429.