Samuel Sperry

Overview

Samuel (Sam) Sperry is a member of the firm’s Public Finance Practice Group. Sam has considerable experience in public finance, with an emphasis in the area of California land-secured financing and redevelopment agency tax allocation bond financing. He has a broad depth of knowledge in special assessment and Mello-Roos special tax financing in California and is the firm’s principal resource person on issues pertaining to Proposition 218, an initiative measure adopted by California voters in November 1996. He has served as bond counsel, underwriters counsel, disclosure counsel and issuer’s counsel on a variety of California local agency debt issues and has been engaged as special legal counsel by many California local agencies on a variety of public finance revenue-raising issues not directly related to debt issuance. He has taken an active role in reviewing and drafting proposed legislation affecting public finance, with an emphasis on special assessment and Mello-Roos structures.

Sam has frequently organized and taught workshops and seminars on California local agency finance issues for the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC); University of California extension programs on the Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles, and San Diego campuses; and a number of professional associations. Most recently his talks have highlighted several adverse court decisions pertaining to special assessment financing structures and the guidance to be derived from them when selecting a  financing structure for proposed public facilities or services.

Prior to joining Meyers Nave, Sam was with the law firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, where he advised clients on public finance issues, particularly those related to California land-secured financing; special assessments; community facilities district financing; and tax allocation bond financing for redevelopment agencies.