Chapter
510
2004 -- H 8578
Enacted 07/07/04
A N A C T
AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF
CHARLESTOWN TO FINANCE THE DESIGN,
CONSTRUCTION, FURNISHING AND
EQUIPPING OF AN AUDITORIUM AT THE
MIDDLE SCHOOL/HIGH SCHOOL IN
THE TOWN BY THE ISSUANCE OF NOT MORE
THAN $3,000,000 BONDS AND/OR
NOTES THEREFOR
Introduced By:
Representative Matthew J. McHugh
Date
Introduced: June 01, 2004
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. The town of Charlestown is hereby empowered, in addition to authority
previously granted, to issue
general obligation bonds and notes to an amount not exceeding Three
Million Dollars ($3,000,000), from
time to time, under its corporate name and seal. The bonds of
each issue may be issued in the
form of serial bonds or term bonds or a combination thereof and
shall be payable either by
maturity of principal in the case of serial bonds or by mandatory serial
redemption in the case of term
bonds, in annual installments of principal, the first installment to
be not later than five (5) years
and the last installment not later than thirty (30) years after the date
of the bonds. All such bonds of a
particular issue may be issued in the form of zero coupon
bonds, capital appreciation bonds,
serial bonds or term bonds or a combination thereof. Annual
installments of principal may be
provided for by maturity of principal in the case of serial bonds
or by mandatory serial redemption
in the case of term bonds. The amount of principal
appreciation each year on any
bonds, after the date of original issuance, shall not be considered to
be principal indebtedness for the
purposes of any constitutional or statutory debt limit or any
other limitation. The appreciation
of principal after the date of original issue shall be considered
interest. Only the original
principal amount shall be counted in determining the principal amount
so issued and any interest
component shall be disregarded.
SECTION
2. The bonds shall be signed by the town treasurer and the president of the
town council and shall be issued
and sold in such amounts as the town council may authorize.
The manner of sale, denominations,
maturities, interest rates and other terms, conditions and
details of any bonds or notes
issued under this act may be fixed by the proceedings of the town
council authorizing the issue or
by separate resolution of the town council or, to the extent
provisions for these matters are
not so made, they may be fixed by the officers authorized to sign
the bonds or notes. The proceeds
derived from the sale of the bonds shall be delivered to the
director of finance, and such
proceeds, exclusive of premiums and accrued interest, shall be
expended (a) to finance the design,
construction, furnishing and equipping of an auditorium at the
middle school/high school in the
town, (b) in payment of the principal of and/or interest on
temporary notes issued under
section three, (c) in repayment of advances made pursuant to
section four, and/or (d) in
payment of costs of issuance associated with the issuance of bonds or
notes hereunder. No purchaser of
any bonds or notes under this act shall be in any way
responsible for the proper
application of the proceeds derived from the sale thereof. The project
shall be carried out and all
contracts made therefor on behalf of the town by the town council.
The proceeds of bonds or notes
issued under this act, any applicable federal or state assistance
and the other moneys referred to
in section six and nine, shall be deemed appropriated for the
purposes of this act without
further action than that required by this act. The bonds authorized by
this act may be consolidated for
the purpose of issuance and sale with any other bonds of the
town heretofore or hereafter
authorized, provided that, notwithstanding any such consolidation,
the proceeds from the sale of the
bonds authorized by this act shall be expended for the purposes
set forth above. The town
treasurer and the president of the town council, on behalf of the town,
are hereby authorized to execute
such instruments, documents or other papers as either of them
deem necessary or desirable to
carry out the intent of this act and are also authorized to take all
actions and execute all documents
or agreements necessary to comply with federal tax and
securities laws, which documents
or agreements may have a term coextensive with the maturity
of the bonds authorized hereby,
including Rule 15c2-12 of the Securities and Exchange
Commission and to execute and
deliver a continuing disclosure agreement or certificate in
connection with the bonds or
notes.
SECTION
3. The town council may by resolution authorize the issue from time to time of
interest bearing or discounted
notes in anticipation of the issue of bonds or in anticipation of the
receipt of federal or state aid
for the purposes of this act. The amount of original notes issued in
anticipation of bonds may not
exceed the amount of bonds which may be issued under this act
and the amount of original notes
issued in anticipation of federal or state aid may not exceed the
amount of available federal or
state aid as estimated by the town treasurer. Temporary notes
issued hereunder shall be signed by
the town treasurer and by the president of the town council
and shall be payable within five
(5) years from their respective dates, but the principal of and
interest on notes issued for a
shorter period may be renewed or paid from time to time by the
issue of other notes hereunder,
provided the period from the date of an original note to the
maturity of any note issued to
renew or pay the same debt or the interest thereon shall not exceed
five (5) years. Any temporary
notes in anticipation of bonds issued under this section may be
refunded prior to the maturity of
the notes by the issuance of additional temporary notes, provided
that no such refunding shall
result in any amount of such temporary notes outstanding at any one
time in excess of two hundred
percent (200%) of the amount of bonds which may be issued under
this act, and provided further
that if the issuance of any such refunding notes results in any
amount of such temporary notes
outstanding at any one time in excess of the amount of bonds
which may be issued under this
act, the proceeds of such refunding notes shall be deposited in a
separate fund established with the
bank which is paying agent for the notes being refunded.
Pending their use to pay the notes
being refunded, moneys in the fund shall be invested for the
benefit of the town by the paying
agent at the direction of the town treasurer in any investment
permitted under section five. The
moneys in the fund and any investments held as a part of the
fund shall be held in trust and
shall be applied by the paying agent solely to the payment or
prepayment of the principal of and
interest on the notes being refunded. Upon payment of all
principal of and interest on the
notes, any excess moneys in the fund shall be distributed to the
town. The town may pay the
principal of and interest on notes in full from other than the
issuance of refunding notes prior
to the issuance of bonds pursuant to Section 1 hereof. In such
case, the town's authority to
issue bonds or notes in anticipation of bonds under this act shall
continue provided that 1) the town
council passes a resolution evidencing the town's intent to pay
off the notes without
extinguishing the authority to issue bonds or notes and 2) that the period
from the date of an original note
to the maturity date of any other note shall not exceed five (5)
years.
SECTION
4. Pending any authorization or issue of bonds hereunder or pending or in lieu
of any authorization or issue of
notes hereunder, the town treasurer, with the approval of the town
council, may, to the extent that
bonds or notes may be issued hereunder, apply funds in the
treasury of the town to the
purposes specified in section two, such advances to be repaid without
interest from the proceeds of bonds
or notes subsequently issued or from the proceeds of
applicable federal or state
assistance or from other available funds.
SECTION
5. Any proceeds of bonds or notes issued hereunder or of any applicable
federal or state assistance,
pending their expenditure, may be deposited or invested by the town
treasurer in demand deposits, time
deposits or savings deposits in banks which are members of
the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation or in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United
States of America or by any agency
or instrumentality thereof or as may be provided in any other
applicable law of the state of
Rhode Island or resolution of the town council or pursuant to an
investment policy of the town.
SECTION
6. Any accrued interest received upon the sale of bonds or notes hereunder
shall be applied to the payment of
the first interest due thereon. Any premiums arising from the
sale of bonds or notes hereunder
shall, in the discretion of the town treasurer, be applied to the
cost of preparing, issuing and
marketing bonds or notes hereunder to the extent not otherwise
provided, to the payment of the
cost of the projects, to the payment of the principal of or interest
on bonds or notes issued hereunder
or to any one or more of the foregoing. The cost of preparing,
issuing and marketing bonds or
notes issued hereunder may also, in the discretion of the town
treasurer, be met from bond or
note proceeds exclusive of accrued interest or from other moneys
available therefor. Any balance of
bond or note proceeds remaining after payment of the cost of
the project and the cost of
preparing, issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder shall be
applied to the payment of the
principal of or interest on bonds or notes issued hereunder. To the
extent permitted by applicable
federal laws, any earnings or net profit realized from the deposit or
investment of funds hereunder may,
upon receipt, be added to and dealt with as part of the
revenues of the town from property
taxes. In exercising any discretion under this section, the
town treasurer shall be governed
by any instructions adopted by resolution of the town council.
SECTION
7. All bonds and notes issued under this act and the debts evidenced thereby
shall be obligatory on the town in
the same manner and to the same extent as other debts lawfully
contracted by it and shall be
excepted from the operation of section 45-12-2 of the general laws.
No such obligation shall at any
time be included in the debt of the town for the purpose of
ascertaining its borrowing
capacity. The town shall annually appropriate a sum sufficient to pay
the principal and interest coming
due within the year on bonds and notes issued hereunder to the
extent that moneys therefor are not
otherwise provided. If such sum is not appropriated, it shall
nevertheless be added to the
annual tax levy. In order to provide such sum in each year and
notwithstanding any provision of
the law to the contrary, all taxable property in the town shall be
subject to ad valorem
taxation by the town without limitation as to rate or amount.
SECTION
8. Any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this act, if properly
executed by officers of the town
in office on the date of execution, shall be valid and binding
according to their terms
notwithstanding that before the delivery thereof and payment therefor
any or all of such officers shall
for any reason have ceased to hold office.
SECTION
9. The town, acting by resolution of its town council, is authorized to apply
for, contract for and expend any
federal or state advances or other grants or assistance which may
be available for the purposes of
this act, and any such expenditures may be in addition to other
moneys provided in this act. To
the extent of any inconsistency between any law of this state and
any applicable federal law or
regulation, the latter shall prevail. Federal and state advances, with
interest where applicable, whether
contracted for prior to or after the effective date of this act,
may be repaid as project costs
under section two.
SECTION
10. Bonds and notes may be issued under this act without obtaining the
approval of any governmental
agency or the taking of any proceedings or the happening of any
conditions except as specifically
required by this act for such issue. In carrying out any project
financed in whole or in part under
this act, including where applicable the condemnation of any
land or interest in land, and in
the levy and collection of assessments or other charges permitted
by law on account of any such
project, all action shall be taken which is necessary to meet
constitutional requirements
whether or not such action is otherwise required by statute; but the
validity of bonds and notes issued
hereunder shall in no way depend upon the validity or
occurrence of such action.
SECTION
11. All or any portion of the authorized but unissued authority to issue bonds
and notes under this act may be
extinguished by ordinance of the town council, without further
action by the general assembly,
seven (7) years after the effective date of this act.
SECTION
12. The question of the approval of this act shall be submitted to the electors
of the town at a general or special
election (other than a primary election) held prior to December
31, 2004 on a date as shall be
designated by the town council. The question shall be submitted in
substantially the following form:
"Shall an act, passed at the 2004 session of the general
assembly, entitled 'AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF CHARLESTOWN TO
FINANCE THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION,
FURNISHING AND EQUIPPING OF AN
AUDITORIUM AT THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL/HIGH SCHOOL IN THE TOWN BY THE
ISSUANCE OF NOT MORE THAN
$3,000,000 BONDS AND/OR NOTES THEREFOR' be
approved?" The warning for
the election shall contain the question to be submitted. From the
time the election is warned and
until it is held, it shall be the duty of the town clerk to keep a copy
of the act available at his or her
office for public inspection, but the validity of the election shall
not be affected by this
requirement. To the extent of any inconsistency between this act and the
town charter, this act shall
prevail.
SECTION
13. Sections 12 and 13 shall take effect upon the passage of this act. The
remainder of this act shall take
effect upon the approval of this act by a majority of those voting
on the question at the election
prescribed by the foregoing section.
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LC03520
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