Todd Miles has joined the Harris Beach law firm as of February 21st as a partner in the Public Finance and Economic Development Practice Group and the Municipalities and Quasi-Governmental Agencies Team.  Mr. Miles, previously a partner at Hawkins Delafield & Wood since 1991, has a recognized expertise in New York local government finance and focuses his practice on representation of large New York municipalities and related financing boards and corporations.

Shawn M. Griffin, co-leader of the Harris Beach Public Finance and Economic Development Practice Group stated: “Now more than ever, our municipal and public finance clients need counsel to address financial structures that range from purely private conduit borrowings to purely public debt issuances and the public private partnerships that fall in between. Balancing tax jurisdiction fiscal concerns with the need for economic development to grow the tax base is a priority for our municipal clients and therefore a priority for Harris Beach. Todd brings greater depth to our existing team of attorneys providing cost effective counseling throughout New York state.” 

During Mr. Miles’ career he has served as bond counsel to numerous New York municipalities, including the counties of Chautauqua, Erie, Monroe, Orange, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk and Westchester, the cities of Albany, Batavia, Buffalo, Dunkirk, Newburgh, Rochester, Troy and Yonkers, and various towns and villages. He has also drafted special state legislation creating the Buffalo Municipal Water Finance Authority and Erie County Medical Center Corporation, and served as bond counsel to both corporations and the Buffalo Sewer Authority, as well as counsel to various underwriters in relation to bond and note issues of Erie County, Nassau County, Onondaga County, Onondaga County Water Authority, and Suffolk County.

At this difficult time for New York local governments facing challenges from expensive state mandates and economic recession, Mr. Miles has widely recognized expertise in municipal fiscal crises and deficit financing, including drafting of legislation for the creation of various state oversight entities and authorization of deficit financing transactions, as well as representation of such oversight entities and controlled municipalities as bond counsel. He has served as bond counsel to state oversight entities in New York, Connecticut and Florida, including the Miami Financial Oversight Board, the Bridgeport Financial Control Board, and the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority.  Mr. Miles’ representation of the City of Yonkers as bond counsel included the tenure of two separate emergency financial control boards created by state legislation to provide fiscal oversight for Yonkers. His representation of the City of Buffalo and County of Erie as bond counsel includes the tenures of the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority and the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority which were created by state legislation to provide fiscal oversight for Buffalo and Erie County. His representation of the City of Newburgh as bond counsel includes the term of state intervention legislation to provide fiscal oversight for that city.  Miles authored the article “Deficit Financing in New York,” published in the Municipal Lawyer (Winter 2004), a joint publication of the Municipal Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and Pace University

In order to ensure financing of a billion dollar program for city-wide school building reconstruction in the Buffalo City School District, Mr. Miles participated in drafting special state legislation and implementation of a school aid revenue bond financing program through the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. He was subsequently retained as underwriters’ counsel for a similar program undertaken by the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency for the city-wide Syracuse City School District building reconstruction program.

After implementation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) among 46 states and domestic cigarette manufacturing companies, Mr. Miles worked with other municipal finance law experts to pioneer securitization transactions for local governments entitled to receive payments from tobacco companies under the MSA, acting as transaction counsel for the Erie Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation, Rockland Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation, Suffolk Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation and Westchester Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation financings and as underwriter’s counsel for the Nassau County Tobacco Settlement Corporation and Chautauqua County Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation financings.

Mr. Miles has drafted a variety of legislation for the New York State Comptroller’s Commission on Public Debt Issuance and other state legislative initiatives.  He is regularly consulted by members and staff of the New York State Legislature and the governor’s staff regarding drafting and analysis of proposed legislation affecting local government finance, including the comprehensive reform of New York local finance laws enacted as Chapter 413 of the New York Laws of 1991 and subsequent legislation implementing constitutional amendments authorizing level debt service and capital appreciation bond financing. 

Mr. Miles is a member of the Board of Governors and co-chair of its Legal and Legislative Committee of the New York State Government Finance Officers Association. He is also a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and the Municipal Law section of the New York State Bar Association.

Mr. Miles received his JD from Albany Law School and his BA from the University of Albany.