McCall guides both public and private institutions of education, including public and private colleges and universities, independent school districts, private secondary schools and charter schools, in the conduct of elections and the financing of buildings, equipment and other infrastructure to enable these entities to provide learning opportunities to students throughout the states of Texas and New Mexico.
McCall serves as bond counsel to many independent school districts in the State of Texas, assisting local schools in financing and refinancing school buildings and equipment, athletic facilities, teacher housing, vehicles, and other expenses.
Public institutions of higher education and independent school districts may issue bonds pursuant to state constitutional and statutory provisions that enable the imposition of property taxes and the creation of special funds to provide the security supporting the issued bonds.
Public institutions of higher education also may issue revenue bonds supported by the tuition, fees and other revenues generated by the institutions of higher education.
Private colleges and universities, private secondary schools and charter schools may benefit from the issuance of bonds secured by revenues, real property and other collateral.
The firm has been a leader in drafting legislation and developing innovative financing techniques regarding matters related to educational institutions in the State. McCall worked on legislation that provided needed clarity to the available uses of premium on bonds issued by independent school districts, clarifying that such districts can use premium to pay for the costs of issuance. The firm played an instrumental role in the development of a financial pledge of “all lawfully available funds” securing revenue bonds issued by The University of Texas System and The Texas A&M University System in the early 1990s. The firm assisted in the preparation of the legislation enacted in the mid-1990s that recognized the “all lawfully available funds” pledge, which is now utilized by almost all public institutions of higher education in the State. The firm played a leading role in working with the Texas Bond Review Board on rule changes that exempt certain state agencies and institutions of higher education from the detailed review process for submission of applications to issue public securities. In addition, the firm participated in drafting legislation and regulations to enable charter schools to obtain the guaranty of bonds by the Permanent School Fund of the State of Texas.
McCall has worked with many private institutions of higher education, secondary schools and charter schools in financing buildings, equipment and other campus infrastructure improvements.
Federal legislation further imposes limitations to the issuance of public securities and on nonprofit organizations, such as nonprofit 501(c)(3) institutions of higher education, with regards to their ability to borrow in the tax-exempt market. Our attorneys’ experience with education financings provides our clients with the maximum flexibility with respect to financial covenants while structuring the most economically efficient financing possible in the public securities market.
