|
IRS Launches Compliance Check Questionnaire on Advance
Refunding Issues
On May 24, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
announced that it has initiated a new questionnaire for borrowers who
have issued tax-exempt advance refunding bonds. The
questionnaire is extensive (8 pages, with 22 multi-part questions).
Some of the topics covered include:
- How
the issuer decides to conduct an advance refunding;
- Advance
refunding policies;
- Review
of arbitrage yield restrictions and implementation restrictions;
- Purchase
of state and local government securities (SLGS) or other
investments for the advance refunding escrow; and
- Record
keeping.
It will be sent to 300 government entities and other
tax-exempt organizations that issued or benefited from advance
refunding bonds between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.
Click here to continue reading.
|
|
Ehlers Market Commentary
Are you up to date with current market trends? If not,
be sure to check out the Ehlers Market Commentary, which is released
every other week.
Be sure to sign up to receive your email copy, or read
past articles here.
|
|
Wellness Challenge
by Alicia Aulwes, Bond
Sale
Coordinator
Ehlers
recently participated in the "Shape Up" challenge, a
national program designed to kick-off the arrival of Spring and
encourage people to create healthy habits. It was a 6 week
program focused on improving 5 daily habits.
One
checkmark was given for each area completed areas such as eating 5
fruits/vegetables, sleeping 7 hours, taking 10 minutes to relax,
getting 30 minutes of exercise and performing one healthy activity
per day for yourself.
Click here to continue reading.
|
|
We encourage
you to forward The Advisor to others who may be interested or ask
them to sign up to receive their own copy.
|
|
Ehlers
550 Warrenville Road
Suite 220
Lisle, IL 60532-4311
Phone: 630-271-3330
|
|
|
Greetings!
Welcome to
the latest edition of The Advisor.
In this
issue, there are two IRS-related articles to which I draw your
attention. One article alerts you to a questionnaire going out to
small group of government entities and other tax-exempt
organizations, and the other article discusses being prepared for
Federal examinations as it relates to Arbitrage.
Over the
next three issues of The Advisor, we'll be focusing on three local
communities who took advantage of opportunities to become even more
successful. In this issue, we're highlighting the Village of
Forsyth.
Thank you
for sharing your successes with us!
|
|
|
Eight Preparation Steps for Referendums
 The next available referendum in Illinois is
Tuesday, March 20, 2012. The deadline for adopting a resolution or
ordinance is Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
With only
six months to plan for a referendum, there are eight preparation
steps you should consider prior to the January 3rd deadline.
There are
many options available to you, and one thing you must keep in mind
is involving the residents of your community and receiving their
input along the way.
Before you
decide if you will go to referendum, it's important to take the
following steps before you make a decision.
|
|
Opportunities
for Success: A Review of Three Communities
btownsend@ehlers-inc.com
 Illinois is filled with so many unique communities.
What makes some communities successful and others striving for
success? In this article, which will unfold over the next three
issues of The Advisor, we will focus on three different communities
who are at various levels of success, but all took the first step
in making their vision a reality.
- The
Village of Forsyth, who created a strategic plan to best apply
resources toward maintaining a quality community.
- The
City of Charleston, who leveraged strategic retreat
participation to a higher level by setting priorities to
complete within 1 ½ years.
- The
Village of Park Forest, who managed community population and
regional economic changes by taking a fresh look at all
aspects of their community and its image.
Each
municipality used a different process, but all encouraged
participation, candid discussion, planning, action, and positive
outcomes. Over the next three newsletters, we will focus on each
community and what were key factors to their success.
Click here to continue reading.
|
|
Arbitrage: Are You Prepared
for Federal Examinations?
Interest
received by bondholders is exempt from federal income tax only if
the issuer complies with both the arbitrage rebate and yield
restriction requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.
To comply,
the issuer must either 1) remit profits from investing gross
proceeds of the issue at a yield in excess of the bond yield to the
Treasury every five years until the debt is no longer outstanding,
or 2) satisfy exceptions to the rebate and yield restriction
requirements.
The IRS
routinely examines debt issuances to ascertain compliance with the
arbitrage requirements. Federal agents initiate the
examination by sending issuers Form 4564 which contains a series of
information document requests. Issuers must submit a
response to the IRS within 21 days of the date on the form.
|
|
Are you a
follower?
Being a
follower isn't always a bad thing. You can get current information
and network with the entire Ehlers team. Click on the logo to
follow us on LinkedIn.
|
|
|
|
