Practices | Municipal and Regulatory

Public Finance Law

Virtually all major municipal projects require some form of public financing. Bernstein Shur has been at the forefront of public finance law and economic development issues for the last 50 years. The firm has been approved as bond counsel in connection with all issues of the Maine Municipal Bond Bank and the U. S. Rural Development Authority. With projects ranging from creating tax increment financing districts to establishing economic development zones, our public finance lawyers are experienced in the tools and techniques available to assist communities in forging successful partnerships with businesses.

Our recent experiences in this area include:

  • Coordinating a tax increment financing project to assist the siting and developing of a 900 megawatt electrical generation station in Gorham.
  • Representing the Town of Hollis in relation to the development of the large new Poland Spring bottling facility.
  • Representing the Town of Easton on creating separate $70,000,000 and $100,000,000 tax increment financing districts with McCain Foods, USA.
  • Assisting the Town of Millinocket in developing a $140,000,000 tax increment financing district with Great Northern Paper/Inexicon.

The following list includes areas of public finance and economic development in which you may need counsel:

  • General obligation bonds
  • Tax anticipation notes
  • Grant anticipation notes
  • Maine Municipal Bond Bank issues
  • Rural Development issues
  • Tax increment financing
  • Development district financing
  • Utility (water, sewer, electric) financing
  • Underwriting
  • Bankruptcy
  • Municipal bond insurance
  • Lease financing
  • Current and advance refundings