34:1B-147 Powers of authority

4. a. For the purpose of providing funds for the financing of the establishment, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, improvement and ownership of port facilities, the authority shall have the power to issue bonds or notes, incur indebtedness, borrow money or incur other obligations secured in whole or in part by the moneys in the Port Facility Revenue Fund or by any state contract or both and also to issue such bonds, notes or other indebtedness for the purpose of defeasing, refinancing or refunding the existing bonded and other indebtedness of an authority or corporation having jurisdiction, ownership or control of port facilities. However, the authority shall not issue bonds, notes or other obligations for defeasing, refinancing or refunding the bonds or notes of the South Jersey Port Corporation until a subsidiary corporation has been formally established by the Delaware River Port Authority and the State Treasurer and the authority have approved an agreement pursuant to subsection b. of this section providing for the lease, management or other operation of all or a portion of the port facilities of the South Jersey Port Corporation. The bonds or notes shall be authorized by resolution, which shall stipulate the manner of execution and form of the bonds or notes, whether the bonds or notes are in one or more series, the date of issue, time or times of maturity, which (in the case of bonds) shall not exceed 30 years, the rate or rates of interest payable on the bonds or notes, the denomination or denominations in which the bonds or notes are issued, conversion or registration privileges, the sources and medium of payment and place or places of payment and terms of redemption. The bonds or notes may be sold at a public or private sale at a price or prices determined by the authority.

b. The authority is hereby authorized to enter into any agreement with a subsidiary corporation with respect to the lease, management or other operation of all or a portion of the port facilities on such terms as the authority shall deem appropriate, such agreement to be subject to the approval of the State Treasurer.

The authority shall, however, be authorized to enter into an agreement with a subsidiary corporation under this section where the directors of such subsidiary corporation are required to be residents of the State of New Jersey and one or more other states only on the following conditions: The bylaws of the subsidiary corporation shall provide, and continue to provide, for the exercise of a veto by the Governor of the State of New Jersey with respect to an action of a director of the subsidiary corporation appointed from the State of New Jersey, which exercise is hereby authorized in the same form and manner as provided in P.L.1991, c.516 (C.32:3-4a et seq.) for the veto of an action of a commissioner of the Delaware River Port Authority appointed from the State of New Jersey; the exercise of the veto by the Governor of the State of New Jersey pursuant to this section shall not serve to dissolve the subsidiary corporation; the number of directors of the corporation from the State of New Jersey shall be the same as the number of directors of the corporation from each of the other states; and no action of the corporation shall be binding unless at least a simple majority of the directors from each state and at least a simple majority of the directors from New Jersey shall vote in favor thereof. The provisions of this section shall also be binding on any entity which is a successor to the authority.

The authority is hereby authorized also to enter into any agreement with the South Jersey Port Corporation with respect to the defense of litigation against the South Jersey Port Corporation.

c. The authority is hereby authorized to convey or reconvey the port facilities to any other entity, including but not limited to the South Jersey Port Corporation, subject to the approval of the State Treasurer and the Legislature. The authority shall submit for approval to the Legislature, on a day when both the General Assembly and the Senate are in session, a plan for conveying or reconveying the port facilities to an entity other than the subsidiary corporation. The date of the submission shall be entered into the Senate Journal and the Minutes of the General Assembly. The Legislature shall be deemed to have approved the plan unless within 45 days of the submission of the plan by the authority to the Legislature, the Legislature adopts by affirmative vote of a majority of the authorized membership of both of the houses a concurrent resolution disapproving the plan. The time period shall commence on the day of submission and expire on the 45th day after submission or for a house not meeting on the 45th day, on the next meeting of that house.

d. In addition to any other provisions of an agreement, an agreement between the authority and a subsidiary corporation for the lease, management or other operation of port facilities acquired from the South Jersey Port Corporation, except as provided in section 15 of this act, shall require an annual payment to the authority for the rental of the port facilities in New Jersey. The annual payment shall be deposited into the Port Facility Revenue Fund created by section 6 of this act.

L.1997,c.150,s.4.