John R. Axe is member of Clark Hill's Banking & Finance Practice Group.
Axe has prepared either as lead draftsman, or as co-draftsman, the following statutes which authorize the issuance of municipal bonds in Michigan:
The amendment to Act 31 of the Public Acts of 1948, (Frist Extra Session), which authorized the issuance of building authority bonds after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the former act was defective and that future bonds would be unenforceable in the case of Allen v. Wayne County in 1972.
The amendment to Public Act 206 of 1893 in 1975, which permitted counties to issue general obligation delinquent tax notes secured by the collection of delinquent taxes.
The amendment to the Municipal Finance Act in 1982, which permitted municipalities to issue bonds and notes without the prior approval of the Municipal Finance Commission.
The amendment to Act 34 of the Public Acts of 2001, which permitted municipalities to issue pension and retirees health care obligation bonds.
The amendment to Act 206 of the Public Acts of 1893, and the amendment to Act 94 of the Public Acts of 1933, adopted in April of 2016, which permitted counties to issue delinquent tax revenue notes.
John has also successfully argued a case in the Michigan Supreme Court which permitted the Michigan State Highway Commission to issue transportation bonds for mass transit and railroad purposes.
In addition to his experience as a practicing bond attorney and financial consultant in municipal issues, John is a co-author of Michigan Municipal Law, a two-volume work published in 1981 by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education for the University of Michigan. In 1992, he was appointed as a member of the Permanent Adjunct Faculty of the Wayne State University Law School where he teaches public finance. John also served a three year term on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), the first Michigan lawyer ever to serve in this capacity. He has served on the Steering Committees for NABL’s Bond Attorney’s Workshop in the years 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1989 and 1990.
