Carla A. Young

What do you focus on?

My work focuses on the tax aspects of municipal bond financings, including tax-exempt, taxable, and tax-advantaged debt obligations issued by or on behalf of state and local governments. I represent issuers, borrowers, underwriters, and lenders in a wide variety of bond issues that finance transportation and infrastructure projects, water and wastewater systems, governmental facilities, nonprofit facilities, K-12 and higher education facilities, charter schools, and public infrastructure located in community development districts, among others. I also represent issuers with the tax issues relating to restructurings of defaulted bond issues, including restructurings connected with bankruptcy proceedings. I frequently represent issuers and borrowers before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in connection with requests for private letter rulings, bond examinations, and voluntary closing agreements.

Previously, I was an attorney and assistant branch chief in the Tax-Exempt Bond Branch of the Office of Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions and Products) at the IRS, where I was responsible for drafting published guidance and rulings, including guidance relating to Build America Bonds and other direct-pay obligations, as well as disaster area bonds. I also served as the Chief Counsel representative to the Tax-Exempt Bond Focus Group, which provides assistance to IRS agents in connection with examinations of tax-exempt bond issues. My experience in the government provides a unique perspective when counseling clients on issues relating to IRS bond audits and ongoing compliance with the tax rules, including the permitted uses of bond-financed facilities and actions that can be taken to remediate post-issuance noncompliance.

Since the beginning of 2020, I have been assisting municipal issuers with the impact of COVID-19, including restructurings to address related liquidity concerns, and served as co-bond counsel (tax) on the second Municipal Liquidity Facility transaction.

Representative Experience

• Co-bond counsel (tax) to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority—North America’s largest transportation provider—and its affiliate, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.
• Co-bond counsel (tax) to the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, which provides water and wastewater services to almost ten million residents.
• Co-bond counsel (tax) to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, including bonds issued to finance nonprofit and education facilities at private institutions, and bonds issued to finance dormitory facilities at the State University of New York.
• Bond counsel (tax) to numerous industrial development agencies and local development corporations in the State of New York for bonds issued to finance nonprofit facilities.
• Co-bond counsel (tax) to the Sales Tax Securitization Corporation (Chicago), including the creation of the corporation and issuance of bonds backed by dedicated sales taxes.
• Bond counsel (tax) to the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation (COFINA) for restructuring of more than $18 billion of outstanding bonds in connection with bankruptcy proceeding under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).

Publications

• “IRS provides relief for municipal bond issuers in response to COVID-19 pandemic,” NP Client Alert, May 7, 2020.
• “Federal tax issues relating to long-term financing of working capital expenditures,” NP Client Alert, April 9, 2020.