In addition to traditional municipal finance transactions, public finance attorney Bruce Donaldson advises on the more difficult, complex and sophisticated transactions that often involve complicated public-private partnerships. Bruce devises creative structures and legal avenues for clients to meet their objectives in variety of public finance and economic development transactions. He is valued for his diplomacy and skill in navigating the various public approval processes.
Bruce primarily serves as bond counsel for counties, cities, towns, redevelopment commissions and other special taxing districts to finance public buildings, infrastructure and other local public improvements through the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable bonds. He has served as bond counsel for virtually every type of local public project, with a particular emphasis on local economic development through the use of creative financing vehicles such as tax increment finance (TIF). He also assists developers and businesses wishing to locate new facilities in Indiana by negotiating state and local incentive packages.
Bruce also has worked on several projects involving the financing of sports and entertainment facilities. He served as bond counsel for the Banker’s Life Fieldhouse project and the Lucas Oil Stadium project in Indianapolis, and The Center for the Performing Arts project in Carmel, Indiana.
Bruce has been a regular participant in the legislative process in the Indiana General Assembly. He has drafted, and lobbied on behalf of, various types of legislation affecting local government finance, particularly in the areas of redevelopment law and tax increment finance. Notably, Bruce drafted the original military base reuse statute on behalf of the Fort Harrison Transition Task Force Corporation. Bruce also was one of the principal drafters of the enabling legislation that created the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, which provided the legal avenue for the financing of Lucas Oil Stadium
Clients depend on Bruce to mitigate their challenges and help solve their problems, while maximizing their position and chances of success. Bruce is at his best when working with them on strategy development. An avid team player, Bruce derives personal satisfaction from helping clients achieve their goals and then seeing the results on skylines throughout Indiana and beyond.
