Skip to Main Content.

Public Finance

Getting the deal done. On your terms.

Our team provides public, project and economic development financial insights to borrowing entities, banks and numerous state, county and local governmental entities. We focus on all the interrelated areas of infrastructure finance, including municipal finance, economic development and redevelopment, real estate finance, securitizations, and public-private partnerships. We also assist clients in both pre-issuance and post-issuance compliance with local laws as well as federal tax and securities laws.

Our attorneys have experience working with virtually every major national, regional and local commercial and investment banking firm, while also utilizing state and local governments as issuers, sponsors or public-private partners. Whether serving as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel or municipal advisor’s counsel, we provide innovative, cost-effective financing mechanisms to all our clients. In addition, we act as counsel to developers, letter of credit banks, bond insurers and trustees in public finance transactions of all kinds and complexities.

Public Finance Contacts

A smiling individual with short hair is wearing a grey blazer over a dark top and a silver necklace.
Denise (Barkdull) Lund

Practice Group Leader

Indianapolis, IN

Areas of Focus

Governments – General Obligation and Revenue Bonds

We regularly serve as bond counsel for governmental entities and political subdivisions throughout our footprint, including the counties, cities and school districts of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia, and involving all types of general obligation bonds, bond anticipation notes and revenue anticipation notes.  We also frequently act as bond counsel for political subdivisions on revenue bond offerings, including water systems, sewer systems and municipal electrical systems.  We act as underwriter’s counsel on many bond issues in the states within our region.  In our roles as both bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel, we regularly deal with issues affecting tax-exempt and taxable bonds.  We also often assist our clients with their ongoing duties of disclosure under continuing disclosure agreements and Rule 15c(2)(12).

Resources for Regional Health Care Providers

We serve as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel or borrower’s counsel for healthcare and hospital financings throughout the United States, and we have been working in our footprint with numerous providers, including:

Catholic Healthcare Partners, based in Cincinnati, Ohio (and its affiliates in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Pennsylvania); Jewish Hospital Health Services, Louisville, Kentucky; Ashland Hospital Corporation d/b/a King’s Daughters’ Hospital, Ashland, Kentucky; Ephraim McDowell Hospital, Danville Kentucky; TJ Samson Hospital, Glasgow, Kentucky; Clark Memorial Hospital, Jeffersonville, Indiana; Caritas Peace Center, Louisville, Kentucky; Sisters of Nazareth Literary and Benevolent Society, Louisville, Kentucky, the Wendell Foster Home in Owensboro, Kentucky, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, Ohio.

Creative Options for Nonprofit Corporation Borrowings

As bond counsel, issuer’s counsel and charitable corporation counsel, we provide experienced guidance on financing for 501(c)(3) non-profits, including public offerings, small issue “bank qualified bonds” and direct bank purchases for nonprofit organizations. The following clients are representative:

The Nashville Symphony Orchestra; Speed Museum, Inc; YMCA of Greater Louisville; Ashland Area YMCA; Georgetown College; Brescia University; Union College; Fund for the Arts, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky; St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky; numerous elementary school projects for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville; Seven Counties Services; The Morton Center, Inc.; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Montessori Schools in Indiana; Knowledge Works Foundation; Goodwill Industries of Southern Ohio, Inc.; The Seven Hills School; Cincinnati Country Day School; Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati; Beechwood Home; Beech Acres; The Cincinnati Opera and Millennium Monument Center, Inc. Our firm was also instrumental in establishing the Louisville Community Development Bank.

Private Activity Bonds

Our team has several decades of experience handling private activity bond financing — including energy finance, solid waste disposal, airports and other exempt facility bonds — as well as qualified small issue manufacturing bonds. We routinely act as the lead structuring and bond counsel for such financings but also serve in other roles, such as disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel. We work closely with major commercial banks using direct bank purchase structures, credit-enhanced financings and derivative structures, including all types of variable rate demand debt.

We have represented all major banks in the region on their direct purchase programs. This includes:

Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, BB&T, Fifth Third Bank, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Key Bank and The Huntington National Bank

Single & Multi-Family Housing Bonds

Our attorneys have acted as bond counsel and as counsel to developers, issuers and underwriters on numerous single and multifamily revenue bond issues. We have also acted as bond or corporation counsel to The Kentucky Housing Corporation, Housing Authority of Louisville, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and numerous private developers. We provide innovative and creative financing for low and moderate-income housing and student housing, as well as new market or historic tax credits and public-private partnership housing solutions.

Tax & Economic Incentives

We work with a broad range of private and public sector clients to research, negotiate, and document state and local incentive transactions. These transactions range from tax-exempt bond issues and real estate tax abatement agreements, to tax increment financings, special assessment bonds, and sales tax abatement capital lease financings, to job training arrangements, local or state income tax credits, enterprise zone and redevelopment areas, and low or no-interest loans. We help ensure that the secured incentives are structured and documented to complement our clients’ transactional and economic development objectives. 

Learn more about our tax credit finance services as it relates to the following incentive programs:

Innovative Economic Development Finance

In addition to working on traditional economic incentives work, we work with communities and developers to structure innovative economic development finance solutions. This includes:

  • Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds to finance new alternative energy facilities and energy efficiency renovation of existing facilities.
  • Qualified energy conservation bonds (QECBs) to facilitate energy efficiency upgrades.
  • Project finance structures and public-private partnerships, from DBFOM (Design Build Finance Operate and Maintain) contracts to incentive-plus operating agreements, that allow for a combination of public and private savvy.
  • Capital and synthetic lease financings utilized by economic development agencies and other government entities to provide significant tax savings to private borrowers.

Related Services

Matters of Interest Newsletter

Covering the latest developments shaping public, project, and economic development finance, this newsletter gets right to the heart of matters. Subscribe below to receive updates on new legislation, compliance trends, and innovative public financing strategies.

Businessman, meeting and discussion with office, boardroom and collaboration or workshop. Leader, training and presentation for mentor, coaching and strategy for teamwork and planning with startup
TEFRA Approvals: Considerations for Officeholders When Approving Private Activity Bonds

May 20, 2025 | Publications

New officeholders often ask us to clarify their responsibilities when it comes to public approval of...

Employees working on construction site, wearing protective equipment and discussing next construction phase - full length models visible on the image
Public Finance: Adjusting to New Transportation and Infrastructure Priorities

April 15, 2025 | Publications

In uncertain times, it is best to focus on what is known. We are going to see significant changes in...

Creative concept of upward arrows illustration on modern laptop background. Breakthrough and progress concept. Multiexposure
Public Finance Municipal Bond, Disclosures and Tax Compliance Recap

March 17, 2025 | Publications

Frost Brown Todd’s (FBT) Public Finance Practice Group hosted its annual Public Finance 360° Semi...

Renewable Energy - Solar Subsidy & Incentives
Maximizing Renewable Energy Financing with Taxable Municipal Bonds and IRA Credits

December 5, 2024 | Publications

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) incentivizes investment in clean energy projects by offeri...

A businessperson is using a stylus to edit work reports on a tablet computer, which, combined with a mobile device, allows them to work more smoothly.
A Refresher on Selective Disclosure and Anti-Fraud Rules

March 14, 2024 | Publications

What Is Selective Disclosure? The desire of investors to obtain additional information regarding iss...

Aerial view of a large suburban housing subdivision located just south of Houston Texas shot from an altitude of about 800 feet during a helicopter photo flight.
Treasury Significantly Expands Use of ARPA Funds to Promote Affordable Housing Supply

March 12, 2024 | Publications

On March 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Treasury released updated guidance regarding the use of Cor...

2024. Benjamin Franklin looking calculator on One Hundred Dollar Bill.
Less Than One Year Left to Obligate Your ARPA Funds!

February 20, 2024 | Publications

For many local governments and state agencies, the direct influx of cash made available through the ...

Finance and banking concept. Euro coins and us dollar banknote close-up. Abstract image of Financial system with selective focus, toned, double exposure.
LIBOR, an Extinct Species, and What Comes Next

June 16, 2023 | Publications

Effective June 30, 2023, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) joins the Brontosaurus, the dodo ...

Concept of renewable energy solution in beautiful morning light. Installation of solar power plant, container battery energy storage systems, wind turbine farm and city in background. 3d rendering.
C-PACE to Help Developments Make a Change for the Better. . .

May 30, 2023 | Publications

A version of this article was published in Law360’s Expert Analysis. The Origins of PACE The p...

Houses and vehicles near horizontal roads in suburb
Community Reinvestment Area Act Major Overhaul for Ohio

January 13, 2023 | Publications

Signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine on January 2, Ohio Senate Bill 33 (SB 33) delivers significa...

A colorful display of financial data and stock market charts with various numbers and graphs.
New Private Activity Bonds, Expiring TEFRA Relief, and Other IRS Updates

March 11, 2022 | Publications

The 2021 calendar year wrapped up with the biggest expansion of exempt facility bonds in a decade in...

Experience Highlights

Municipal

Bond Counsel on a variety of general obligation, utility revenue and special obligation financings for Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, including their agencies and political subdivisions, totaling more than $3 billion.

Bond Counsel to Dayton City School District for two refunding issuances of bonds and notes totaling $192 million.

Bond Counsel to a Columbus area school district for a refunding bond issue in the amount of $38 million.

Bond Counsel to County of Franklin, Ohio with respect to its 2013 $43 million General Obligation bond issue.

Bond Counsel to City of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Underwriter’s Counsel for a $176,240,000 Indiana Finance Authority Highway Revenue Bond transaction issued when the State of Indiana retook control of a previously privatized highway project in the State.

Bond Counsel to the Indianapolis Bond Bank and the Indianapolis Airport Authority in the 2019 refunding of $149,300,000 of variable rate bonds, including the termination of related swaps, in order to fix the interest rate and to otherwise reduce the IAA’s risk profile.

Incentives

Bond Counsel for tax-exempt bonds to finance public parking structure constructed at the first lifestyle center developed in Cincinnati since 2005.

Special Counsel to an Indiana municipality as it restructured several hundred million dollars of risky “high-yield” tax increment financing (TIF) bonds into double-barreled TIF and general obligation backed bonds.

Bond Counsel to the City of Norwood, Ohio providing TIF financing packages to three major development projects in the city in less than two years.

Counsel to Waggenbrenner Development on financing of public infrastructure with TIF bonds at a new urban residential development.

Representation of a Fortune 500 company in securing tax abatements for a web hosting facility through a taxable bond issue.

Representation of a middle market company in securing tax abatements for a regional distribution facility through a taxable bond issue, in addition to stare grants and tax credits.

Representation of a securities brokerage firm in securing property tax abatements through a taxable bond issue, structuring the transaction to accommodate off-balance sheet financing, in addition to job training grants, for a national operations center.

Representation of a Fortune 500 drugstore chain in securing local tax abatements, forgivable loans and grants and tax credits for a major regional distribution facility.

Representation of a major middle market company in securing local tax abatements and state job training grant and other tax credits for an ice-cream processing facility.

Representation of a Fortune 500 company in reviewing and providing legal advice to avert the assessment of tax penalties in connection with non-compliance with an enterprise zone agreement.

Representation of a national bank to secure TIF financing and state incentives for development of a major data processing facility on a brownfield site.

Representation of 2 national food products company in structuring and documenting local tax benefits for a major expansion of its West Coast operation.

Representation of an international food products company in auditing and redocumenting several incentive arrangements in 8 states as part of a reorganization of its U.S. operations.

Health Care

Bond Counsel for Southwest General Health Center, for both its new money and refunding bond issues.

Hospital Counsel for Christ Hospital, for its $600 million financing for a new patient tower.

Bond Counsel and Corporate Counsel to Willow Brook Christian Communities, for its new money and refunding bond issues.

Bond Counsel to Wexner Heritage Village, for its new money and refunding bond issues.

Non-Profits

2014 “Excellence in Bond Finance Award” winning Issuer’s Counsel and Bond Counsel for tax-exempt economic development revenue bonds financing parking facilities in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Issuer’s Counsel and Bond Counsel for a non-profit cancer treatment center development in Ohio.

Counsel to various charitable 501(c)(3) organizations providing fundraising, and taxable and tax-exempt bond financing advice.

Bonds

Private Activity Bonds

Bond Counsel for Ohio Air Quality Development Authority tax-exempt solid waste disposal bonds of first recycling facility financed with its “air quality facility” bonds.

Bond Counsel and Borrower’s Counsel for three-state refinancing of tax-exempt bonds for solid waste facilities at a major steel provider’s plants located in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Borrower’s Counsel and Bank Counsel for tax-exempt financing of new anaerobic digester facilities, a private company installed as part of a municipal waste water treatment system.

Single & Multi-Family Housing Bonds

Borrower’s Counsel for a major national senior living and health care provider in restructuring of retirement community.

Underwriter’s Counsel for a $17,220,000 multifamily housing transaction in Indianapolis, IN, that involved taxable, tax exempt and convertible bonds and also involved a tender for outstanding bonds.

Project Finance

Development counsel to Cuyahoga County in connection with its successful and transformative Medical Mart financing in 2010; and counsel to the underwriters of the bonds used to finance the $450 million project, which is leased, operated and maintained by an affiliate of Merchandise Mart Properties.

Counsel on two Ohio public-public P2 downtown parking modernization projects, both involving transfers of downtown parking facilities to local Ohio port authorities which allowed for tax-exempt bond financing to help fund each city’s budget.

Counsel to Queensland Investment Corporation and its affiliate CampusParc LP for its $483 million public-private partnership (P3) lease/acquisition of a 50-year concession to operate all on-street and off-street parking facilities at The Ohio State University.

Counsel to the State of Ohio on the $2.7 billion Cincinnati Brent Spence Bridge P3 replacement, renovation and modernization project.

Related Insights

Bright and Ultra Modern High Tech Laboratory Full of Advanced Technological Wonders, Computers, Analyzing Machines, Test Tubes and Beakers.
Frost Brown Todd Assists Hexion in Winning Bid and Tax Credit Incentive for New R&D Facility

June 17, 2025 | Experience

Frost Brown Todd (FBT) played an instrumental role as legal counsel to Hexion Inc. in securing a 10-...

Businessman, meeting and discussion with office, boardroom and collaboration or workshop. Leader, training and presentation for mentor, coaching and strategy for teamwork and planning with startup
TEFRA Approvals: Considerations for Officeholders When Approving Private Activity Bonds

May 20, 2025 | Publications

New officeholders often ask us to clarify their responsibilities when it comes to public approval of...

A jigsaw puzzle featuring a partially completed image of a hundred-dollar bill.
Texas Bill Could Eliminate PSF Guaranty on School Bonds

May 8, 2025 | Publications

Pursuant to Section 45.052 of the Texas Education Code, school district and charter school bonds (in...

Speech Time! Your Turn!
Texas HB 19 Takes Aim at Local Government Debt and Tax Practices

April 18, 2025 | Publications

Perhaps the most impactful public finance bill making its way through the Texas Legislature currentl...

Hand choosing mini wood house model from model on wood table, selective focus, Planning to buy property. Choose what's the best. A symbol for construction ,ecology, loan concepts
Large Kentucky Multifamily Housing Projects Are Now IRB-Eligible

April 15, 2025 | Blogs

Kentucky local governments now have an additional tool to help address their housing shortages thank...

Employees working on construction site, wearing protective equipment and discussing next construction phase - full length models visible on the image
Public Finance: Adjusting to New Transportation and Infrastructure Priorities

April 15, 2025 | Publications

In uncertain times, it is best to focus on what is known. We are going to see significant changes in...

Stay ahead of the law.

Subscribe to receive email updates and choose your topics.