Policy Issue White Paper: Municipal Bonds and Infrastructure Development – Past, Present, and Future

Details: The International City/County Management Association (ICMA), through its Governmental Affairs and Policy Committee (GAPC), and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) are seeking proposals for a policy white paper: “Municipal Bonds and Infrastructure Development – Past, Present, and Future”

Municipal bonds continue to be a major component for how state and local infrastructure is financed. Their tax exempt status, which allows governments to borrow at lower rates, continues to be the focus of a range of policy conversations. This white paper aims to focus on the following topics:

• Historically, what role have municipal bonds played in infrastructure investment by general state and local governments?
• How has the tax exempt status of these bonds affected the use of bonds by governments and the incurred costs?
• Should the tax exempt status be fully or partially repealed, how would this impact municipal bond use and costs to general state and local governments and taxpayers for infrastructure projects?
• What other infrastructure funding streams and financing vehicles would be affected by changes to municipal bond tax treatment?

ICMA is the premier local government leadership and management organization.  Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by advocating and developing the professional management of local government worldwide.  The GFOA represents over 18,000 public finance officials, serving as a leadership and training resource to governments across the country.

This white paper will become a part of an ongoing series designed to (1) explore key policy issues from a local government management perspective; (2) raise new ideas and perspectives that will influence and shape public policy discussions at the local, state, and federal levels; and (3) support federal advocacy on behalf of counties, cities and towns.

Process for Developing the White Paper: ICMA’s GAPC and GFOA will supervise development of the paper by providing feedback on drafts, ensuring that key issues are addressed, and advising on management perspectives.  The final paper should be no more than 15-20 pages in length and must be completed by May 15, 2015. 

Budget: ICMA will pay a $5,000 stipend to the selected author.  In addition, authorship of this paper will provide national exposure on a major policy issue.

Proposal Requirements: All proposals must be submitted no later than January 23, 2015 [UPDATED] to: Joshua Franzel, ICMA, jfranzel@icma.org and Dustin McDonald, GFOA, dmcdonald@gfoa.org.

Proposals should be no longer than two pages and should describe:

1. Your overall approach to the paper including what you see as its main components/sections of the final paper, expressed in an outline of the paper.
2. Your academic preparation and experience with this issue including references to any previous publications or research that is relevant to this project.
3. Why you believe you are uniquely qualified to prepare this paper and ensure that it meets ICMA and GFOA’s goals.