Municipal Finance & Fiscal Distress

Worried About Public Pensions? Counties Often Have Lower Burdens

Counties Often Underappreciated Despite Generally Improving Fund Balances and Lower Debt and Pension Liabilities By Richard A. Ciccarone County governments are generally a good place to start your search for governments with positive financial conditions as well as...

Municipal Bankruptcy and Default

Commentary: Just Wipe Out Public Debt! — Not a Solution for Puerto Rico or Anyone Else

- 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...

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...

Congress’s Role in Saving Puerto Rico from Financial Meltdown and Imminent Bankruptcy

by James Spiotto On December 1, 2015, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on whether and how best to assist Puerto Rico and its related municipalities and public corporations now facing severe financial challenges and economic distress....

Puerto Rico’s “Willingness to Pay” Issue

Muni investors were sitting on pins and needles Tuesday morning and it was not all about the outcome of the USA-Belgium World Cup match. Weighing on their minds was the question of whether or not, in the wake of last week’s events, PREPA would be making payment for the July 1st coupon on its debt. A non-payment, of course, would constitute the largest muni default to date, eclipsing the Detroit case. It would also send a clear message that PREPA intends to seek imminent relief under the new “bankruptcy law” for public corporations.

Municipal Bonds, Credit Quality and Disclosure

Fiscal Year 2017 Municipal Bond Audit Times Are Still Too Slow

Municipal Bond Audit Times Show Slight Improvement Since 2015 But Most Still Late to the Table  --  The County, State and City Sectors are the Least Timely By Richard A. Ciccarone Municipal bond analysts and investors are accustomed to waiting a lot longer for...

Re-Assessing the Credit Quality of America’s Cities in 2017 – Part One: Examining Financial Health Against a Backdrop of High Ratings

Are Credit Ratings Reflecting True Risk? More than two years ago, MuniNet published a five-part series on Assessing the Credit Quality of America's Cities, intended to examine and create a framework to analyze the financial health of cities. With this first...

Assessing the Credit Quality of America’s Cities – Part Four: FY 2014 Financial Condition

The most basic sign that a government is living within its means is that it balances its books at the end of the year. Traditionally, most city officials, experts, and observers of state and local government focus primarily on the general fund, usually a government's...

Assessing the Credit Quality of America’s Cities – Part Three: Long-Term Liabilities beyond Pensions

By Richard A. Ciccarone City Financial Challenges Beyond Pensions When Assessing the Credit Quality of America's Cities, pensions aren't the only big long term liability facing America's cities.     Add to the list bonded indebtedness, other post-employment benefits...

Assessing the Credit Quality of America’s Cities – Part Two: The Achilles Heel to the Fiscal Condition of Cities – Public Pensions

In the second part of our series on city credit quality, the spotlight shifts to the Achilles heel for many cities: public pensions. by Richard A. Ciccarone     Governmental credit quality is a byproduct of both the underlying economy and the cumulative...

Does Municipal Bond Credit Quality Impact Annual Audit Times?

Increased attention on local government fiscal stress and Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings has heightened concerns over municipal bond credit quality in wider circles than ever before.  But while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires certain issuers of...

Most Municipal Audits Still Slow, Despite Push for Timely Transparency

In the corporate bond market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that annual audit reports be submitted within 60 to 90 days of the close of the fiscal year.  While the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has said that it would like to have...

Study Examines Municipal Audit Turnaround Time

How long does it take for municipal entities to produce annual audit reports?

How the Muni Bond Experts Use the Internet

We recently polled members of the MuniNet Guide & Review Editorial Advisory Board - a group comprised of professionals who work in local government and municipal research - to see how they use the Internet to get the information they need to do their jobs....

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