Bonds 101 – The Basics of Issuing Debt
Event Details
| Registration | Online registration is not available for this event. |
| Date | Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Save to your calendar |
| Time | 11:00am |
| Location |
Online , Map and directions |
| Delivery Method | Webinar |
| Field of Study | Finance - Technical (1.0) |
| NASBA CPE | Earn 1.00 CPE Hours |
| Contact | IGFOA info@igfoa.org |
Event Cost
| Type |
|---|
| Members |
| Government / Partner Colleagues |
| Non-members |
Event Description
This session will present a basic overview of borrowing options for Illinois cities and villages, including general obligation bonds, limited tax bonds, debt certificates and revenue bonds. The borrowing process timeline will be discussed, as well as legal and financial guidelines and limitations. We will hear from various finance working group members including a bond underwriter, municipal advisor and bond counsel. Each of the parties’ roles in a financing will be discussed. Other salient topics will include the rating agency process, statutory and tax law rules and borrowing limitations and best practices.
Speakers:
Raphaliata McKenzie, Senior Vice President, Director and Owner, Speer Financial, Inc
Stephan Roberts, Director, Robert W. Baird Inc
Larry White, Public Finance Partner, Chapman and Cutler LLP
Learning Objectives:
Participants completing this session should be able to:
- Discuss the most common forms of borrowing options available to Illinois municipalities.
- Understand the rating agency process and how issuing new debt might impact an existing rating.
- Explain some of the benefits of issuing tax-exempt debt as well as certain of the obligations that result from such an issuance.
Event Timing:
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker Bios:
Stephan Roberts, Director, Robert W. Baird Inc
Stephan Roberts, Director, joined the Baird public finance team in 1998. Since then he has provided issuers, large and small, with leadership and investment banking expertise. Stephan provides services to such clients as the cities of Freeport, Moline, Rochelle, Rock Falls and Rock Island, the counties of Rock Island and Peoria and the villages of Antioch, Glen Ellyn, Midlothian, New Lenox and Tinley Park. He also serves a wide range of Midwestern clients. He brings innovative ideas to clients’ unique needs and will continue to provide the same level of service to all his clients. Testament to his skills was his participation on The Bond Buyer’s Midwest Regional Deal of the Year Award in 2005 on a complicated pension transaction and National Non-traditional Deal of the Year in 2009 assisting a client with swap counterparty negotiations. Another of his clients won the award again in 2011 for the National Small Issue Deal of the Year. Stephan is a graduate of North Central College, in Naperville, Illinois where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with his Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Raphaliata McKenzie, Senior Vice President, Director and Owner, Speer Financial, Inc
Raphaliata McKenzie, Senior Vice President, Director and Owner. Employed by Speer Financial since 1997. Certified Independent Public Municipal Advisor by National Association of Municipal Advisors. Qualified Municipal Advisor Representative (Series 50) with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. B. S. Finance, DePaul University. Prior experience includes accountant with Jane Addams Hull House Association and prior banking experience with a Chicago based commercial and investment bank. Member of the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association. Served many Illinois municipalities and special districts as a municipal advisor on bond transactions.
Larry White, Public Finance Partner, Chapman and Cutler LLP
Larry White is a partner and member of Chapman’s Public Finance Department. He serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel to governmental entities and underwriters on governmental financings in Illinois and around the country. Larry also counsels investment banks, commercial banks and financial advisors on a wide variety of government related topics, including public offering disclosure and regulatory compliance. In addition, Larry is a frequent speaker on public finance and related topics.
Larry focuses much of his public finance practice on general obligation and revenue bond transactions, including financings for cities, villages, school districts, park districts, counties, libraries and fire protection districts.He also devotes a significant amount of his practice to new and developing areas of finance, including broadband finance and property assessed clean energy (PACE) finance.
Intended Audience: Finance professionals
Delivery method: Group-Internet Based
Program Level: Overview
Prerequisites: No prerequisites required
Advanced Preparation: No advanced preparation required
Field of Study: Finance - Technical
Last Review/Revision/Update: November 5, 2025
NASBA CPE Credits: Earn about 1.0 credits
Registration & Cancellation Policy
Payments by check should be mailed in advance or made at time of registration by credit card.
Cancellation of an event registration is subject to the following policy:
• No refunds will be given for cancellations the day of the event and no shows.
• For IGFOA event registration cancellations five (5) business days or more prior to an event, refunds will be offset by a $20 cancellation fee.
• For IGFOA event registration cancellations within five (5) business days of the training, refunds will be offset by a cancellation fee of 50% of the registration fee.
• A substitute attendee may be designated provided that the payment has been made and the IGFOA office has been notified in advance.
• Cancellation policy for chapter events may differ from this policy at the chapters’ discretion.
• A written request for a refund must be emailed to the IGFOA prior to the event.
By submitting this registration, the applicant agrees to the registration and cancellation policy above.
IGFOA reserves the right to modify the agenda and/or speakers, cancel the training due to low enrollment, or to close registration if full. Should IGFOA cancel an event, cancellation notice will be sent to the email address provided by each registrant and prominently posted at the IGFOA website page announcing the event.
If you have questions about the cancellation and refund policy, your membership, or a complaint, please contact IGFOA at info@igfoa.org. The IGFOA reserves the right to apply the non-member fee to any individual or government that has not paid dues for the current year.
Approved by the National Registry of CPE Sponsors
CPE Registry Illinois Government Finance Officers Association (IGFOA) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State Boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.