- by James Spiotto With the end of the flurry of Congressional activity over impeachment, followed by a general yearning for the end to partisan conflicts, we now look to this year and what issues can be addressed before the national election. There remain lingering...
Fiscal Distress
City of Chicago; $346 Million in General Obligation Bonds
- by Robert Crump The City of Chicago is scheduled to issue $346 million in General Obligation (GO) Bonds this week. The Refunding Series 2020A is a negotiated sale with J.P. Morgan as lead managers and a pricing date of January 15th. Series 2020A Bonds have a fixed...
What Illinois Can Learn From the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and Even Puerto Rico About Public Pension Reform
By James E. Spiotto The U.S. Supreme Court and virtually all state courts have recognized what the Rhode Island Supreme Court recently reaffirmed: insurmountable, unaffordable government contractual obligations for public pensions must be capable of reasonable and...
The Gathering Storm: Illinois & Chicago MSA’s Challenging Financial Developments Due To The Great Recession
By Jim Spiotto This is Part 1 in a 4-part article series on the Post-Fiscal Crisis State and the next fiscal crisis considerations. The information and charts come from a presentation given at the Government Finance Research Center's conference entitled "Ready or Not?...
The First Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling on ‘Assured’ Should be Reheard or Reversed; Recent Ruling Sends a Harsh Message to Municipal Bond Market
( ) Why the Municipal Bond Market Expects Pledged Special Revenues to be Timely Paid to Bondholders in a Chapter 9 Proceeding. And, Why the First Circuit's Assured Ruling in Puerto Rico’s PROMESA Title III Proceeding Should Be Reheard or Reconsidered on Appeal....
PUERTO RICO’S REPUDIATION OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS
PUERTO RICO’S REPUDIATION OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS: A REAL RISK OR JUST KABUKI THEATER By James E. Spiotto On January 14, 2019, the Financial Oversight and Management Board, acting through its Special Claims Committee and the Official Committee of Unsecured...
A WAKE-UP CALL FOR OTHERS – THE LESSONS LEARNED AND TO BE REMEMBERED FROM PUERTO RICO’S DISTRESS AND PROMESA
By James E. Spiotto The Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War of 1898 resulted in control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and The Philippine Islands being given to the United States. Cuba in 1902 and The Philippines in 1946 were given independence. Puerto Rico...
Risk Perception of State and Local Government Debt May Stress Taxes and Leverage Without a Certainty of Payment – Use of Statutory Liens, Special Revenues and Other Means of Assurance
By James E. Spiotto Fiscal distress of or perception of risk of nonpayment by government begets higher cost of borrowing and even loss of access to the market The perception of fiscal distress leads to higher interest rates (cost of borrowing) in the global markets:...
Cincinnati — Taking a Look at One City’s Approach to Alleviating the Burden of Pension Legacy Costs
Legacy costs, especially for mature cities, can carry a long lasting burden on the finances of municipalities challenged by massive unfunded pension liabilities and retiree health care costs. Those cities most affected by these burdens also typically experience high...
Spiotto on the Benefits of Economic Development and Stimulus from Needed Infrastructure Improvements to Deal with Tax Policies, Issues, Leverage Problems, Financial Distress and Unfunded Pension Obligations
We cannot avoid economic cycles but history of financial stability points the way In the U.S.A., financial challenges and difficulties in balancing a government budget are not so much caused by the desire to spend more than tax revenues currently generate but rather...