Jean Everett is an experienced finance attorney who focuses on tax and related aspects of public finance transactions involving tax-exempt and taxable bonds, tax credits, and other government subsidies for significant social infrastructure projects. She has decades of experience analyzing and advising on transactions in which bond interest is eligible to be excluded from income of the holders under Section 103 of the Tax Code. She assists issuers, 501(c)(3) borrowers, and other conduit borrowers with responses to IRS examinations of bond transactions.
Jean has served as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, bank counsel, or developer’s counsel in numerous high-value projects over more than two decades, gaining insight into managing transactions, teams, and closings, including when parties are fully or partially remote. She has represented state finance authorities, for housing and higher education projects, as well as industrial development agencies, local development corporations, and municipal issuers of general obligation bonds in transactions that have produced major facilities for public benefit.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Advised local nonprofit on joint venture with public housing authority and master developer on proposed Purpose-Built redevelopment of approximately 1,100 units of new and rehabilitated housing to replace deteriorated public housing units on four sites, and creation of a new neighborhood with many amenities including wellness and educational facilities
- Represented regional bank in direct purchase of tax-exempt revenue bonds to refund tax-exempt bonds issued to finance a 150-unit continuing care retirement community secured by a mortgage, revenue pledge, and parent company guaranty
- Represented nonprofit sponsor, managing member, and owner entity in development and financing of a 50-unit affordable residential rental project with 30 units for individuals recovering from serious mental illness, involving 4 percent LIHTCs, tax-exempt revenues bonds, a subordinate taxable mortgage loan, and a construction-period letter of credit, along with state-funded permanent credit enhancement and capital and operating subsidy
Professional Highlights
Professional Activities
National Association of Bond Lawyers
Speaking Engagements
Presenter, Enhancements to Opportunity Zone Incentives, CenterStates CEO, March 2020
Presenter, Opportunity Zones Program, CenterStates CEO, July 2019
Presenter, “Public/Private Development Partnerships,” Lorman Education Services, December 2004
Publications
Author, “Aging Infrastructure and Unemployment: The Erie Canal and WPA,” white paper, July 2020
Author, “Private Activity Bonds Repeal – The True Cost of Tax Reform,” Buffalo Law Journal, December 2017
Co-author, “Impact of Tax-Exempt Bond Rules on Alternate Uses of School Facilities,” The Reporter, New York State Association of School Business Officials, Summer 2014
Co-author, “The Case of Gibson Plaza: Preserving Affordability in the Nation’s Capital,” Journal of Housing and Community Development, June 2011
Related Insights
Credentials
Education
Suffolk University Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1988)
Cornell University (B.A., with distinction, 1980)
Admissions
Pennsylvania
New York
District of Columbia
Massachusetts