Public Finance Creative Financings that Build Communities

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After serving as counsel in billions of dollars of financings, we understand how to achieve our clients’ financial objectives while respecting the needs of communities.

INNOVATION

Salt Lake County, Utah, was looking for ways to harness the region’s natural energy and manage its utility expenses. Ballard Spahr arranged a financing package that incorporated Qualified Energy Conservation Bond (QECB) funds; energy efficiency and conservation block grant funds from the U.S. Department of Energy; New Markets Tax Credit tax equity; and a U.S. Treasury Section 1603 grant in lieu of investment tax credit funds. We drafted an RFP to select the private partner, served as bond counsel for the QECB issuance, and assisted the county in negotiating the power purchase agreement and other documents. By including a private partner and available incentives, the County was able to build a groundbreaking solar powerproject, double the size of the system it could have built on its own.

RESOURCEFULNESS

When the City of Bethlehem needed crucial public infrastructure to promote the long-term economic renewal of one of the largest brownfield sites in Pennsylvania, Ballard Spahr helped the City finance improvements that created an attractive, vibrant commercial and entertainment destination for new development. Our team analyzed redevelopment plans, reviewed case and statutory law, negotiated with all taxing bodies, and assembled a financing structure that suited the redevelopment district’s need for investment while respecting the taxing bodies’ desperate need for more revenue. The result? The issuance of $27.6 million of unsecured fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds without mortgage liens, municipal guarantees, state support, or credit enhancement.

LEADERSHIP

The stakes are high and access to capital is limited. Across the country and around the globe, the need to repair critical infrastructure, improve social structures, and build for the future exceeds the availability of public funds. In Virginia, Ballard Spahr is transforming the way infrastructure projects are financed by drafting an agreement between the Commonwealth’s DOT and a private concessionaire to develop and operate high-occupancy toll lanes along the bustling but congested I-95/395 corridor. This unique public-private partnership will keep Virginia moving.

SERVICE

Since 1740, the University of Pennsylvania has served as a model of learning, research, and innovation. It opened the first hospital in the United States and now supports a world-renowned health system. Ballard Spahr has served as bond counsel to the University and its Health System for decades. We have helped them advance their missions by comprehensively restructuring their debt portfolios, responding to instability and changes in the municipal bond market, and structuring new financings. Our service to Penn has allowed it to achieve endowment growth while funding the infrastructure needed to be a national leader in learning, research, and innovation.

From interstate highways and ports to hospitals, affordable housing, and utilities, our work reflects the highest level of service and sophistication.

• State and Local Governments

• Bond Investors and Trustees

• Investment Banks and Leading Financial Institutions

• Hospitals and Health Care Systems

• Transportation Agencies

• Colleges and Universities

• Cultural Institutions

• State Housing Agencies

• Public Housing Authorities

• Private Developers

• Public, Private, Parochial, and Charter Schools

• Redevelopment Agencies

• Public and Investor-Owned Utilities

• Manufacturers

O U R C L I E N T S

With one of the premier public finance practices in the country, Ballard Spahr has participated in the issuance of more than $250 billion of tax-exempt obligations throughout the United States and its territories. We help state and local governments and authorities, manufacturers, utilities, nonprofits, investment banks, and banking institutions navigate virtually every type of bond transaction.

Our Public Finance team collaborates with attorneys from the following practices:• Bankruptcy• Construction• Environmental• Government Relations• Health Care• Higher Education• Housing• Intellectual Property• Nonprofit Organizations• P3/Infrastructure• Real Estate Development• Securities• Tax/Tax Credits

O U R T E A M

Ballard Spahr is affiliated with Avant Strategic Partners, a Texas-based consulting firm specializing in arbitrage compliance. Our affiliation provides our public finance clients access to talented tax and finance professionals dedicated to this complex area for decades.

• Affordable Housing• 501(c)(3) Bonds• Health Care Financing• Higher Education and

Student Loan Financing• Transportation • Governmental Bonds• Municipal Utility • Pollution Control/Waste Management/

Energy Projects • Credit Enhancement

• Economic Development and Urban Renewal

• Tax, Assessment, and Increment Financing

• Energy Performance Contracting• Municipal Default, Restructuring,

and Insolvency • Military Installation Financing• Tax Audit and Securities Investigation• Arbitrage, Tax Audit, and Post-Issuance

Compliance

Atlanta | Baltimore | Bethesda | Delaware | Denver | Las Vegas | Los Angeles | New Jersey | New York Philadelphia | Phoenix | Salt Lake City | San Diego | Washington, DC | www.ballardspahr.com