June 20, 20223 

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Finance: Fundamentals of Municipal Finance and Borrowing

Description: Municipal attorneys are often asked, “Can we do this?”, when “this” relates to getting, spending, and borrowing money by their municipal clients. This session will consider the essential legal issues attendant to that question. We will discuss basic constitutional issues like public purpose, corporate purpose, and lending of the public credit; the theoretical distinction between taxes and fees; the legal ramifications of that distinction; and other limitations on the ways that municipalities can get and spend money. We will also briefly consider the role and types of municipal borrowing. Because the laws vary widely from state to state, the session will focus on issue spotting and general questions that the municipal attorney should consider when asked financial questions.

Speaker: Eric Shytle

Eric Shytle has been General Counsel of the Municipal Association of South Carolina since March 2019. Before joining the Association, Eric was general counsel of the City of Sumter, South Carolina, for eight years and a municipal bond lawyer at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. for 12 years. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia, his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and his master's in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an IMLA Local Government Fellow and the recipient of the 2020 William I Thornton, Jr. IMLA Faculty Award.