Municipal Finance

Miller, Mannix, Schachner & Hafner, LLC has functioned as Bond Counsel in various types of transactions since 1980. As a result of the acceptance of our bond opinions by recognized underwriters and our ongoing work as Bond Counsel, we have been included in "The Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace" (more commonly known as the "Red Book") listing of bond attorneys for many years.  We therefore qualify as nationally recognized Bond Counsel and our opinions regarding the validity and tax exempt status of municipal bonds are accepted by major banks and financial institutions.  We are a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and regularly attend its annual Bond Attorney's Workshop to keep up with changes in regulations and new municipal financing strategies.

Over the years, the firm has participated in a variety of types of bond issues involving a number of different issuers.  We have acted as Bond Counsel for the Industrial Development Agencies of the Counties of Fulton, Herkimer, Orange, Saratoga, Schenectady and Warren/Washington; the Towns of Colonie and Wells; the Cities of Albany, Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs and Troy and the Vermont Industrial Development Authority.  These issues included both straightforward "vanilla" financings as well as more complex variable/fixed rate issues with a variety of mandatory and optional redemption provisions.  Due in part to the significant reduction in these issues caused by the enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, we began to shift our emphasis to general obligation municipal issues in the late 1980's  While these financings now constitute the majority of our municipal finance practice, we recently acted as Bond Counsel for the $3,695,143 Counties of Warren and Washington Industrial Development Agency Qualified 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Industrial Development Revenue Bond financing for a hospital renovation.  We have also acted as Bond Counsel in connection with issues of municipal Bonds and Bond Anticipation Notes sold to the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) for inclusion in the State Revolving Fund pools.  As a result of this work and our representation of clients involved in wastewater treatment plant upgrades under a program administered by EFC, we have developed an excellent working relationship with the EFC staff.

In addition to our capabilities as Bond Counsel, Miller, Mannix offers expertise in related areas that frequently proves invaluable in the context of a municipal financing and complements our role as Bond Counsel.  Our firm's real estate department has substantial experience representing both sellers and purchasers of commercial and residential real estate as well as commercial and residential lenders. We do a significant amount of title work and are authorized agents of Chicago Title Insurance Company to issue title insurance on its behalf.  We also have a substantial municipal, environmental law and land use practice.  This experience enables us to assist and counsel issuers of municipal obligations regarding various matters of environmental due diligence including environmental audits, CERCLA and Superfund investigations and compliance and "brownfields" development.  Our municipal clients generally find our broad expertise particularly helpful in guiding them through all steps necessary for regulatory approvals and optimal financing for a wide range of capital projects.  As one example, we recently advised the Town of Schroon regarding the steps required to properly establish a water district and then acted as Bond Counsel in connection with the issuance of a Bond Anticipation Note to provide interim financing for the District improvements and the issuance of a general obligation Bond to be sold to EFC to provide long-term financing.

Our municipal finance team offers a level of education and experience that is uncommon in smaller, local law firms while providing accessibility and personal attention to your needs.  One of the benefits of our firm is that we can easily handle financing transactions of this magnitude while at the same time ensuring direct attention from our law firm principals.

The role of municipal Bond Counsel is sophisticated and specialized, requiring expertise in a particularly detailed area of law.  We offer both this level of sophistication as well as the advantages of a small firm.  In the context of our role as Bond Counsel in financings involving EFC, we determined that several statutory requirements were not correctly reflected in documents used repeatedly by large urban firms. 

Contact Attorneys: Robert H. Hafner 
Mark Schachner