The Muni Lowdown

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire North America Analyst John Sinna, about the latest developments with Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

The podcast begins with John providing a summary of the key events that have occurred in the past year.

John then highlights the key issues that remain unresolved as of September 2024.

The conversation shifts to a discussion of the global settlement that was announced by Hawaii Governor Josh Green approximately a month ago. Currently, the insurance companies are holdouts to this settlement. John offers his perspective as to whether this deal can be consummated without buy-in from the insurers.

John provides an explanation for how insurance subrogation claims work and discusses whether the insurance market can function effectively without this. There is currently litigation under consideration in Hawaii as to whether subrogation claims will be allowed to proceed.

John moves the discussion to whether insurers would consider moving out of the Hawaii market.

Finally, John provides his view on the next important milestone and potential scenarios to play out.

#restructuring #insurance #muniland #electricity

The latest Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast features Managing Editor Paul Greaves discussing public pensions with Jean-Pierre Aubry, associate director of state and local research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani.

Jean-Pierre kicks off the podcast by providing his thoughts on what “private credit” means in the context of public pension investments.

The conversation shifts to the growing trend of public pension plans employing active management of their portfolio. Jean-Pierre offers his perspective on whether active management significantly improves plan performance.

Jean-Pierre then explains how he addressed limitations in his research that compared active vs passive management.

Jean-Pierre transitions into an explanation of what metrics are important to review when assessing the financial health of a public pension plan.

Jean-Pierre concludes with a discussion on the overall performance of public pension plans over the last several years.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Liz Farmer, a public finance expert and Kunal Kamal about the growing auditor shortage and delays in government financial reporting.

Liz kicks off the podcast by explaining the difference in median audit times between corporate and municipal bond issuers.

The conversation shifts to discussing the potential consequences for local governments when financial reports are delayed.

Liz then explains some of the best practices she’s seen by governments with financial reporting.

Liz goes on to discuss the delicate balance governments must navigate between the need for comprehensive financial reporting with the practical challenges of staffing.

Liz concludes by offering her perspective on potential trends in audit times and auditor availability.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire Legal Analyst Paul Gunther and Reporter Simone Baribeau on the recent court ruling that PREPA bonds are secured.

Last month, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that PREPA [Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority] bondholders have a secured USD 8.5bn claim on the utility’s net revenues.

Paul Gunther kicks off the podcast by providing background on PREPA and the bonds. He then segues into how the dispute between PREPA and the bondholders arose.

The conversation shifts to the lower court ruling that was overturned by the appellate decision. Paul discusses how the appellate court arrived at different conclusions.

Paul proceeds to discuss the First Circuit ruling also extends the lien to future net revenues and were perfected.

Paul then explains how the First Circuit came to the conclusion that this was a USD 8.5bn secured claim.

Paul concludes with providing the actions that the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico can take following this decision.

Simone segues the conversation into the significance of this court decision for PREPA and the municipal bond market.

The podcast concludes with Simone providing her perspective on what’s next in the PREPA restructuring.

On the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Triet Nguyen, vice president of Strategic Data Operations with DPC Data and Reporter Kunal Kamal about evolving high yield municipal market risk factors.

Triet kicks off the podcast by discussing how risk factors in the high yield municipal bond market since wrote his book in 2012 called “Investing in the High Yield Municipal Market.”

The conversation turns to the increasing prevalence of cyberattacks and potential risks it poses to the municipal bond market.

Triet proceeds to explain how climate risk assessment tools can be used to enhance credit research and risk management.

The discussion shifts to Triet providing his perspective on the significant challenges facing the commercial real estate market, specifically the office sector and resulting impact on municipal bonds.

The podcast concludes with Triet explaining his views on relative value in the high yield municipal market.

On the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Thomas Brosy, a senior research associate with The Tax Policy Center and Reporter Kunal Kamal about the impact of declining commercial property revenues on city budgets.

Thomas kicks off the podcast by delving into the intricate landscape of property tax dynamics and the potential impact on municipal revenues.

Thomas proceeds to explain the diverging trends in residential and commercial property tax collections, which leads to an explanation of how a city’s budget projections are impacted.

Thomas discusses the “lagging indicator” nature of property tax collections and why that gives municipalities “a window” to develop alternative revenue strategies for absorbing any loss due to falling commercial property tax revenues.

Thomas moves the conversation to identifying cities most vulnerable to revenue loss due to lower commercial property tax collections. He also provides the key characteristics of these municipalities.

The podcast concludes with Thomas discussing the long-term shifts in work patterns and urban populations and how those trends influence the trajectory of commercial real estate values, as well as implications for future revenue streams for municipalities.

#citybudget #muniland #propertytaxes #officevalues #commercialrealestate #CRE

On the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow with Brookings Metro and Reporter Kunal Kamal about declining commercial real estate valuations and property tax revenues.

Tracy kicks off the podcast by providing us a framework for understanding that issues as significant as commercial real estate (CRE) declines require structural, as opposed to cyclical solutions.

Tracy then explains the concept of a “doom loop”.

Tracy proceeds to explain “office to housing myths” and whether office-to-residential conversions represent a viable strategy.

The conversation then shifts to Tracy discussing the varying downtown recoveries in cities across the country and whether there are a common set of factors to explain the diverging trends.

Tracy provides some context on the role mass transit can play in a healthy CRE market.

The podcast concludes with Tracy explaining what steps municipalities can take in facing the challenges of a declining CRE market and the resulting decrease in property tax revenues.

#CRE #propertytaxes #muniland

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Neil deMause, author of Field of Schemes and Reporter Kunal Kamal about stadium finance.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire ABS Editorial Director Eric Homer and Reporter Kunal Kamal about commercial real estate.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks to Adam Smith, applied climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about billion-dollar climate and weather disasters.

The podcast begins with Adam explaining his job with NOAA.

Adam provides an overview of the findings from NOAA’s billion-dollar climate and weather disasters report released on 9 January 2024.

Adam discusses the methodology used to create the report and emerging trends.

Adam discusses the time required for post-disaster recovery.

Adam then turns the conversation to explaining how the size of a municipality affects recovery dynamics.

Adam concludes the podcast by discussing the consequences on the property and car insurance markets due to the frequency and intensity of these billion-dollar disasters.