MRSC Insight Blog

Posts for Debt

June 29, 2018 by Lynn Nordby
Category: Debt

An obscure provision in the 2017 Tax Cut & Jobs Act all but eliminated an important municipal finance tool known as advance refunding. This blog post looks at the potential implications.

SEC Enforcement in the Municipal Securities Market

May 7, 2018 by Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C.
Category: Debt , Guest Author

Over the last few years, the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission has significantly stepped up its enforcement activity in the municipal bond market. This blog post looks at that trend.

MRSC Expands its Financial Policy Guidance

April 27, 2017 by Toni Nelson
Category: Debt , Investments , Asset Management , Financial Management , Fund Balance and Reserves

MRSC and the State Auditor’s Office Local Government Performance Center have launched a series of online resources to help Washington State local governments develop and adopt effective financial policies and procedures, while complying with SAO’s policy requirements.

State Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Municipal Debt

November 1, 2012 by Bob Meinig
Category: Debt

On October 25, the state supreme court issued a plurality decision in In re Bond Issuance of Greater Wenatchee Reg'l Events Ctr., holding that city of Wenatchee would exceed its debt limit if, without voter approval, it entered into a "contingent loan agreement" (CLA) with the Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center...

Financing Public Infrastructure: Generational Equity and Municipal Debt

August 31, 2012 by Jenifer C. Merkel
Category: Debt , Guest Author

Municipal infrastructure is expensive. In deciding when and how to finance large capital projects, a council or commission must balance many competing factors. Should the local government borrow money to pay for the project? Or should it set aside funds over time – saving up to pay with cash? Is it fair to tax a resident over many years to provide funds to acquire and construct a public...

The BUC Stops at the Bond Users Clearinghouse

August 7, 2012 by Judy Cox
Category: Debt

Every year when I work on our publication, Budget Suggestions, reading matter piles up. When I turned to my stack last week, the first item I grabbed was The GO Report 2010: An Analysis of Local Government Outstanding General Obligation Debt from the Bond Users Clearinghouse (BUC) of the Washington State Department of Commerce. This is always an interesting document and it had not...