Grant Meyer The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF) provide critical infrastructure funding for wastewater and water projects. These programs, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), provide annual grants to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The states are required to match the EPA funds with 20 percent funding which then creates a … Read more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has adopted a significant rule change to address concerns over conflicts of interest by financial intermediaries in municipal bond underwritings. The change prohibits municipal securities dealers from acting as a financial advisor to a municipal entity on a new bond issue and, subsequently, acting as an underwriter on the … Read more
A couple of school finance tools may be extended through 2015 based on newly-introduced federal legislation. Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W. Va., introduced S. 796 to extend the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs) and Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs). These bonds are similar to the Build America Bonds having federal subsidy rates equal to 100 percent … Read more
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 federal budget negotiations finally came to an end on April 15, 2011, when President Obama signed House Resolution (HR) 1473. The final Continuing Resolution for the FY 2011 budget included a total of $1 trillion in funding which represented an approximate $40 billion budget cut from the FY 2010 budget. … Read more
It is the time of year when city, township, and county assessors set current market values on property within their taxing district. Whether or not this task is part of auditor/clerk duties, a basic understanding of how this process affects the mill levy value, and consequently the budget, is very important. Determining Total Market Value A … Read more
Close to midnight on April 8, Congress reached an agreement that would extend government funding through April 15. This latest Continuing Resolution (CR) was passes predicated on the notion the actual full FY2011 budget would be passed within this window of time. The expected FY2011 budget will be voted on by Congress on Thursday, April … Read more