Public Finance and Incentives

Tax Credits

Butler Snow has substantial expertise in tax credit financing transactions, with significant emphasis on transactions involving the federal and state new markets tax credits (“NMTCs”) program and the historic rehabilitation tax credit (“HRTC”) program.

The NMTC program provides significant financial assistance in the form of below market debt and/or equity to qualifying businesses and developments located within certain qualified low-income census tracts.  The firm offers clients guidance in complex legal and regulatory issues that may arise in these transactions.  Butler Snow has represented tax credit investors, leveraged lenders, community development entities and developers in NMTC transactions.  In addition, the firm has substantial expertise in transactions utilizing NMTCs in conjunction with other federal, state and local economic development incentives, including combining NMTC financing with tax-exempt bond financing.

In addition to the firm’s NMTC practice, Butler Snow also represents investors and developers with respect to HRTC projects.  The firm has experience with the full range of legal issues that such projects involve.

Recent representative projects include a medical office building in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which combined federal and state NMTCs with Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds; a project benefiting Habitat for Humanity on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which combined federal and state NMTCs; the renovation of a historic building located in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, which will combine federal and state NMTCs with federal and state HRTCs; a mixed use project benefiting the University located in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, which combined federal and state NMTCs with other federal, state and local economic development incentives; and an office building located in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, which combined federal and state NMTCs.

Practice highlights

• Butler Snow recently served as Community Development Entity Counsel, Bond Counsel, State Equity Investment Counsel and Economic Development Incentives Counsel in a $23,000,000 New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) financing transaction combining federal and state NMTCs, Mississippi Business Finance Corporation Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) Bonds and state and local economic development incentives.   The project involved the construction of a medical office building located on the campus of Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which should be a great benefit to the community that is in much need of new state of the art facilities to house healthcare services.  Utilization of the federal and state NMTC program, GO Zone bond financing and other economic development incentives resulted in substantial economic benefits to the project, including private equity investment, below market interest rates and state and local tax savings.  The Butler Snow lawyers on the team included John England, Jet Hollingsworth,  Gene Magee, Jack Nichols and Kim Smith.

For additional information on Tax Credits, please contact Jetson G. Hollingsworth, John B. (Jack) Nichols and Kimberly E. Smith.