By: National Special Districts Coalition
Congress may be on recess through Labor Day, but the National Special Districts Coalition (NSDC) has three financial-related alerts for CSDA members.
Built by Bonds: Your examples needed!
There are rumblings in Washington that Congress may take action on a major tax package in 2025, which could impact state and local governments’ ability to utilize tax-exempt financing and further reduce or eliminate the direct-pay subsidy for bonds due to sequestration or other federal budget matters. NSDC encourages special districts to share stories of their projects financed with municipal bonds for a national database the Public Finance Network is developing as part of the “Built by Bonds” initiative in anticipation of the fight ahead.
The goal is to identify three to four projects in each Congressional district by October 1, 2024.
The Built by Bonds initiative is building a webpage housed on the Government Finance Officers Association’s (“GFOA”) website to show members of Congress how projects financed by state and local government utilizing tax-exempt municipal bonds have benefitted the communities they represent.
The information submitted will be overlaid on a map, with a brief project description:
Financial Disclosure Transparency Act of 2022 standards being defined, draft rule circulated
Pursuant to the Financial Disclosure Transparency Act of 2022 (FDTA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Department of Treasury released proposed rules to establish data standards to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across these agencies.
NSDC's partner, the Public Finance Network, is assessing the impact of the proposed rules, including financial, on municipal entities. NSDC has been briefed on this issue in the past, but more detail will be forthcoming now that a draft rule has been circulated.
If you or your district would like to convey feedback to NSDC, please email NSDC Public Affairs, Outreach, and Engagement Director Chantal Unfug at chantalu@nationalspecialdistricts.org and copy CSDA Chief Advocacy and External Affairs Officer Kyle Packham at kylep@csda.net.
2017 Tax Act provisions set to expire, NSDC looking to for ways to extend key benefits for special districts
The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Finance recently met regarding Tax Tools for Local Economic Development. A topic that will be gaining speed as some of the tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Act will be dropping off at the end of 2025.
The hearing focused on retaining the tax-exempt nature of municipal bonds, reinstating advance refundings and increasing the bank-qualification limits. Additionally, the hearing discussed a number of tax credits, such as the New Market Tax Credits, Opportunity Zones and direct-pay subsidy bonds (i.e. Build America Bonds).
The Public Finance Network will be drafting a statement for the record. If you or your district would like to convey feedback to NSDC, please email NSDC Public Affairs, Outreach, and Engagement Director Chantal Unfug at chantalu@nationalspecialdistricts.org and copy CSDA Chief Advocacy and External Affairs Officer Kyle Packham at kylep@csda.net.
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