Public Sector Fiscal Stability Initiative
Squire Sanders has established a multidisciplinary Public Sector Fiscal Stability task force to help public sector clients identify and implement alternatives to raise revenue and reduce expenses and to address credit market and infrastructure finance issues associated with fiscal distress. Squire Sanders lawyers are also prepared to counsel investors, lenders and contractors in evaluating and protecting against adverse consequences associated with public sector fiscal instability.
Eroding tax revenues, skyrocketing pension obligations and unmanageable general fund expenses have all conspired to place unprecedented pressures on cities, counties and other municipal entities and to present new concerns for municipalities and their public financing partners and stakeholders. The relatively arcane Chapter 9 provisions of the US Bankruptcy Code have assumed a more prominent role in the capital markets than at any time in memory. Municipalities, public bondholders, credit enhancers, public labor unions and other constituents must remain current on how financial distress can affect municipal performance and their financial stake in that performance.
Our Public Sector Fiscal Stability task force offers forward-looking and sophisticated solutions for our clients, whether they are municipal obligors or trustees, underwriters, holders or credit enhancers of municipal bonds. Because municipal financial distress presents unique issues, our approach is multidisciplinary; our Public & Infrastructure Finance Practice Group works in tandem with our Restructuring & Insolvency Practice Group to analyze problems and propose solutions, bringing to bear our extensive experience in municipal finance and restructurings throughout the country. Additionally, our multidisciplinary approach includes labor and real estate expertise from throughout our firm, addressing issues peculiar to municipalities.
As cities, counties and special municipal districts face new and more severe challenges, Squire Sanders and its professionals in the Public Sector Fiscal Stability task force are uniquely well-positioned to help our clients understand what are – and are not – optimal solutions to municipal financial distress and to partner with our clients to successfully navigate an area fraught with pitfalls.