§1658. Revenue bonds

A. In borrowing money and as a grant of power in addition to other authority to issue bonds, the board is authorized to issue revenue bonds of the authority, with approval of the State Bond Commission, for any purpose within the rights and powers delegated to the authority.

B. The board is hereby authorized to pledge for the payment of the principal of and interest on such negotiable bonds the fares, fees, rental charges, and other income or revenue derived from the facilities and properties maintained and operated by the authority, and any gifts, grants, or contributions from any other sources whatsoever, including but not limited to other monies which by law or contract may be made available to the authority. The board shall prescribe the conditions and details of such bonds and, in addition to the pledges of income, revenues, and the like, payment of bonds of the authority may be further secured by either of the following, or both:

(1) A conventional mortgage upon any and all of the properties constructed or acquired, or to be constructed and acquired by it;

(2) The proceeds of taxes authorized to be imposed pursuant to this Chapter.

C. Such bonds shall be authorized and issued by a resolution of the board and shall be of such series, bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times not exceeding forty years from their respective dates, bear interest at such rate or rates not exceeding an amount which the board determines to be in the best public interest, payable semiannually, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or fully registered without coupons, carry such registration and exchangeability privilege, be payable in such medium of payment and at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption not exceeding one hundred five percent of the principal amount thereof, and be entitled to such priorities on the income, revenues, and taxes of the authority as such resolution provides.

D. The bonds shall be signed by the president and secretary of the board of the authority, one of which signature may be a facsimile, and coupon bonds shall have attached to them interest coupons bearing the facsimile signatures of these officers of the authority. Any such bonds may be issued and delivered, notwithstanding that one or more of the officers signing the bonds or the officer or officers whose facsimile signature or signatures may be upon the coupons shall have ceased to be such officer or officers at the time the bonds actually are delivered.

E. Bonds issued under the provisions of this Chapter shall be sold for not less than par and accrued interest, to the highest bidder, at public sale after advertisement by the board at least once a week for three weeks, the first publication to be not less than twenty-one days prior to the date of sale in a newspaper of general circulation within the jurisdiction of the authority and also in a financial newspaper or journal published in the city of New York or the city of Chicago, reserving to the authority the right to reject any and all bids and to readvertise for bids. However bonds may be sold through negotiated or private sale if they are:

(1) Sold to the federal government or the state of Louisiana or any of their respective agencies or corporations, or

(2) Authorized to be sold through negotiated or private sale by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the State Bond Commission and by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

F. Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds the board may issue interim receipts, interim certificates, or temporary bonds exchangeable for definitive bonds upon the issuance of the latter.

G. In any resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds the board may enter into such covenants with the future holder or holders of the bonds as to the management and operation of facilities, the lease or rental thereof, the imposition and collection of fees and charges for services and facilities furnished by the authority, the disposition of such fees and revenues, the issuance of future bonds and the creation of future liens and encumbrances against such facilities and the revenues therefrom, the carrying of insurance on the facilities, the keeping of books and records, and other pertinent matters, as may be deemed proper by the board to assure the marketability of the bonds, so long as such covenants are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter.

Any holder of the bonds or any of the coupons thereto attached may by appropriate legal action compel performance of all duties required of the authority and officials of the authority by this Chapter.

H. If any bond issued under the provisions of this Chapter is permitted to go into default as to principal or interest, any court of competent jurisdiction may, pursuant to the application of the holder of the bond, appoint a receiver for the facilities of the authority, which receiver shall be under the duty of operating the facilities and collecting and distributing the revenues thereof pledged to the payment of the bonds, pursuant to the provisions and requirements of this Chapter and the resolution authorizing the bonds.

I. Such bonds, in the discretion of the board, may be additionally secured by conventional mortgage on all or any part of the properties or facilities acquired, constructed, extended, or improved with the proceeds thereof, and the board shall have full discretion to make such provisions as it sees fit for the making and enforcement of such mortgage and the provisions to be therein contained.

If more than one series of bonds issued under the provisions of this Chapter is payable from the revenues of any facility, priority of lien on such revenues shall depend on the time of delivery of the bonds, each series enjoying a lien prior and superior to that enjoyed by any series of bonds subsequently delivered, except that where provision is made in the proceedings authorizing any issue or series of bonds for the issuance of additional bonds in the future on a parity therewith pursuant to procedure or restrictions provided in such proceedings, additional bonds may be issued in the future on a parity with such issue or series in the manner so provided in such proceedings. As to any issue or series of bonds which may be authorized as a unit but delivered from time to time in blocks, the board may, in the proceedings authorizing the issuance of the bonds, provide that all of the bonds of the series or issue shall be coequal as to lien, regardless of the time of delivery.

J. The board may issue bonds of the authority under the provisions of this Chapter payable from the revenues to be derived from any facility owned and operated by the authority, whether or not the facilities are related or used in conjunction, for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, extending, or improving any one or more of the facilities. Such bonds may be additionally secured by a conventional mortgage upon such facilities and any taxes authorized to be imposed hereunder.

K. The board is hereby authorized to provide by resolution for the issuance of refunding bonds of the authority for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. Such refunding bonds either may be sold and the proceeds applied to or deposited in escrow for the retirement of the outstanding bonds or may be delivered in exchange for the outstanding bonds. The refunding bonds shall be authorized in all respects as original bonds as herein required to be authorized, and in authorizing the refunding bonds of the authority the board shall provide for the security of the bonds, for the sources from which the bonds are to be paid, and for the rights of the holders thereof in all respects as herein provided for other bonds issued under authority of this Chapter. The board also may provide that the refunding bonds shall have the same priority of lien on the revenues pledged for their payment as was enjoyed by the bonds refunded. No bonds may be refunded hereunder unless they either mature or are callable for redemption under their terms within ten years from the date of issuance of the refunding bonds, or unless the bidders thereof voluntarily surrender them for exchange or payment.

L. The board is hereby authorized to provide in the resolution authorizing the issuing of bonds under the provisions of this Chapter that such bonds shall recite that they are issued under authority of this Chapter. Such recital shall conclusively import full compliance with all of the provisions of this Chapter, and all bonds issued containing such recital shall be incontestable for any cause whatsoever after their delivery for value after thirty days after the date of publication of the resolution authorizing their issuance.

M. No proceedings in respect to the issuance of any such bonds shall be necessary except such as are contemplated by this Chapter. For a period of thirty days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds hereunder, any person or persons in interest shall have the right to contest the legality of the resolution and the legality of the bond issue for any cause, after which time no one shall have any cause or right of action to contest the legality of said resolution or of the bonds authorized thereby for any cause whatsoever. If no suit, action, or proceedings are begun to contest the validity of the bonds within the thirty days herein prescribed, the authority to issue the bonds and to provide for the payment thereof, the legality thereof and of all of the provisions of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds shall be conclusively presumed, and no court shall have authority to inquire into such matters. Such bonds shall have the qualities of negotiable instruments under the law merchant and the commercial laws of the state of Louisiana.

N. Upon the payment in full of the principal of and interest on all bonds of the authority issued by the board under the provisions of this Chapter and secured by all or any portion of any tax or other source of income or revenue authorized herein, or upon the irrevocable deposit of sufficient funds for the payment and redemption of all such bonds in principal, interest and redemption premiums, if any, to their respective maturity or call dates, the levy of any such tax shall be discontinued and terminated. If no bonds of the authority have been issued by the board which are secured by all or part of the proceeds of any such tax, the tax may be terminated at any time by resolution of the board and, in the absence of a resolution terminating it, it shall terminate automatically five years after the date of adoption of the resolution imposing the tax.

O. The board may pledge all or any part of the proceeds of any tax to the payment of bonds authorized pursuant to this Chapter under such terms and conditions consistent with the provisions of this Chapter as the board may prescribe and as are contained in the resolution or resolutions providing for the issuance of such bonds.

P. When any bonds shall have been issued hereunder which are secured by all or any portion of any tax, neither the legislature, the authority, nor any other power may discontinue or decrease the tax or permit the tax to be discontinued or decreased in anticipation of the collection of which such bonds have been issued, or in any way make any change in the allocation and dedication of the proceeds of such tax which would diminish the amount of tax revenues to be received by the authority until all of such bonds have been retired as to principal and interest and irrevocable provisions otherwise made for their complete redemption and payment in principal and interest and redemption premium, if any.

Q. Prior to the issuance of any bonds hereunder, any revenue of the authority derived from any source whatsoever, including the tax authorized herein, may be used by the authority for the payment of any expenses incurred in determining the feasibility of a facility or facilities or any aspects of the authority's operation and developing plans therefor, including engineering, architectural, legal, and administrative costs and fees incidental thereto. It shall be incumbent upon the authority to pay only such fees and such amounts as are current in the market at the time of the sale in such a manner as to assure that the public interest has been protected.

R. The Authority shall invest its idle funds in accordance with the Investment of Idle Funds Act; however, such idle funds as the authority determines to invest in banks shall be invested on a pro rata basis in all banks within the jurisdiction of the authority.

Added by Acts 1979, No. 439, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 1979; Acts 1984, No. 934, §1.