A. The board, upon recommendation from the commission, may issue and sell bonds or other obligations recommended by the commission to provide funds for any purpose enumerated in the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act or for payment of obligations incurred or temporary loans made to accomplish any purpose of that act. As prescribed in the recommending resolution, bonds may be issued in one or more series; shall bear prescribed dates; shall be in the form provided in the Supplemental Public Securities Act [6-14-8 to 6-14-11 NMSA 1978]; shall be issued in prescribed denominations; shall have terms and maturities that do not exceed twenty-five years from the date of issue of each series; shall bear interest at prescribed rates; shall be payable and evidenced in the manner and times as set by the board; may be redeemed with or without premiums prior to maturity; may be ranked or assigned priority status; and may contain provisions not inconsistent with this subsection.

B. As security for the payment of the principal and interest on bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board, the commission is authorized to pledge, transfer and assign after consultation with the board:

(1) any obligations of each qualified borrower, payable to the commission;

(2) the security for the qualified borrower obligations;

(3) any grant, subsidy or contribution from the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities; or

(4) any income, revenues, funds or other money of the commission from any other source appropriated or authorized for use for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act.

C. The bonds and other obligations recommended by the commission and issued by the board may be sold at any time the commission and the board agree upon. The bonds may be sold at private or public sale at prices as provided in the Public Securities Act [6-14-1 to 6-14-3 NMSA 1978] and in a manner agreed upon by the board and the commission. The commission may apply the proceeds of the sale of the bonds it recommends that have been issued by the board to:

(1) the purposes of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act or the purposes for which the fund may be used;

(2) the payment of interest on bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board for a period not to exceed three years from the date of issuance of the bonds; and

(3) the payment of all expenses, including publication and printing charges, attorney fees, financial advisory and underwriter fees, and premiums or commissions that the commission or the board determines are necessary or advantageous in connection with the recommendation, advertisement, sale, creation and issuance of commission-recommended obligations.

The board retains the power to fix the date of sale of the bonds and to take all actions necessary to sell and deliver the bonds.

D. In anticipation of the issuance of bonds, the board or the commission may borrow such sums as may be needed for any of the purposes enumerated in Subsection C of this section, obligate itself by certificate or promissory note, bearing interest at a rate to be specified by the commission and maturing within fifteen months from the date of the certificate or promissory note. The certificates or promissory notes shall be payable solely from the proceeds of the bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board and from the funds from which commission-recommended bonds are payable. In the event that commission funds are not available for a loan for an eligible project when application is made, in order to accelerate the completion of any eligible project, the local authority may, with the approval of the commission, obligate such local authority to provide local funds to pay that portion of the cost of the eligible project that the commission agrees to make available by loan, and the commission may refund the amount expended on its behalf by the local authority.

E. The commission may recommend that the board issue and sell refunding bonds for the purpose of paying, defeasing or refunding the principal of, interest on and any redemption premiums on any matured or unmatured outstanding bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board or any matured or unmatured bonds of the state issued to finance eligible projects constructed pursuant to the Clean Water Act grant program. Refunding bonds issued by the board pursuant to a recommendation by the commission shall be subject to the provisions of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act in the same manner and to the same extent as other bonds issued pursuant to that act. The holders of refunding bonds shall be subrogated and entitled to all priorities, rights and pledges to which the bonds refunded thereby were entitled.

F. Except as otherwise provided in the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act, the proceeds of refunding bonds shall be immediately applied to the retirement of the bonds to be refunded or be placed in escrow or trust in one or more trust banks within or without the state to be applied to the payment of the refunded bonds or the refunding bonds, or both, in such priority and in the manner that the commission and the board may determine.

G. The incidental costs of refunding bonds may be paid by the purchaser of the refunding bonds or be defrayed from other available revenues of the commission, from the proceeds of the refunding bonds, from the interest or other yield derived from the investment of any refunding bond proceeds or other money in escrow or trust, from any other sources legally available for that purpose or from any combination of sources as the commission may determine.

H. Any accrued interest and any premium appertaining to a sale of refunding bonds may be applied to the payment of the interest or the principal of the bonds, or to both interest and principal, may be deposited in the account or in the fund and expended solely for the purposes of this subsection, may be used to refund bonds by deposit in escrow, trust or otherwise or may be used to defray any incidental costs appertaining to the refunding or any combination thereof, as the commission may determine.

I. An escrow or trust shall be limited to proceeds of refunding bonds.

J. A trust bank accounting for federal securities and other securities issued by the federal government in escrow or trust may place those securities for safekeeping wholly or in part in one or more trust banks within or without the state. Proceeds in escrow or trust may be invested or reinvested in federal securities and, in the case of an escrow or trust for the refunding of outstanding bonds or securities, in other securities issued by the federal government if the recommending and issuing resolutions expressly permit the investment or reinvestment in securities issued by the federal government other than federal securities.

K. A trust bank shall continuously secure, by a pledge of federal securities in an amount at all times at least equal to the total uninvested amount of the money, any money placed in escrow or trust in that trust bank, or by that trust bank in one or more trust banks within or without the state, and not invested or reinvested in federal securities and other securities issued by the federal government.

L. Proceeds and investments in escrow or trust, together with interest or gain to be derived from that investment, shall be in an amount at all times sufficient to pay principal, interest, prior redemption premiums due, charges of the escrow agent or trustee and other incidental expenses, except to the extent otherwise provided for, as the obligations become due at their respective maturities or due at designated prior redemption dates in connection with which the commission has exercised or is obligated to exercise a prior redemption option.

M. The computations made in determining sufficiency shall be verified by a certified public accountant.

N. A purchaser of a refunding bond issued pursuant to this section shall not be responsible for the application of the proceeds by the commission or any of the officers, agents or employees of the commission.

O. The state treasurer may invest any idle or surplus money of the state in bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board. The governing body of any public entity in the state may invest any idle or surplus money held in its treasury in bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board. Bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board shall be legal investments for executors, administrators, trustees and other fiduciaries, unless otherwise directed by the court having jurisdiction of the fiduciary relation or by the document that is the source of the fiduciary's authority, and for savings banks and insurance companies organized under the laws of the state.

P. Bonds or other obligations recommended by the commission and issued by the board and the interest applicable thereto and the income therefrom and all projects or parts thereof and all assets of the commission shall be exempt from taxation in the state.

Q. Bonds may be issued under the provisions of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act only with the approval of the commission and the board pursuant to authority provided in that act.

R. Commission members or employees or board members or employees and any person executing bonds issued pursuant to the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act shall not be liable personally on the bonds or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

S. All bonds recommended by the commission and issued by the board, while registered, are declared and shall be construed to be negotiable instruments.

T. All bonds, notes and certificates recommended by the commission and issued by the board shall be special obligations of the board, payable solely from the revenue, income, fees or charges that may, pursuant to the provisions of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act, be pledged to the payment of such obligations, and the bonds, notes or certificates shall not create an obligation, debt or liability of the state. No breach of any pledge, obligation or agreement of the commission shall impose a pecuniary liability upon the state or a charge upon its general credit or taxing power.

U. Any recommending or issuing resolution shall provide that each bond recommended or authorized shall recite that it is issued by the board under recommendation of the commission. The recital shall clearly state that the bonds are in full compliance with all of the provisions of the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act, and all bonds issued containing such recital shall be incontestable for any cause whatsoever after their delivery for value.

History: Laws 1991, ch. 172, § 10; 2017, ch. 114, § 5; 2018, ch. 19, § 7.

Cross references. — For the federal Clean Water Act of 1977, see 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.

The 2018 amendment, effective May 16, 2018, authorized the state board of finance to issue and sell bonds or other obligations recommended by the water quality control commission to provide funds to qualified borrowers for eligible projects, and authorized the commission to pledge, transfer and assign any obligation or security of a qualified borrower as security for the payment of the principal and interest on bonds; in Subsection B, replaced "state agency or local authority" with "qualified borrower" throughout the subsection; in Subsection D, replaced "wastewater facility" with "eligible project" throughout the subsection; and in Subsection E, after "issued to finance", deleted "wastewater facility" and added "eligible".

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, authorized the water quality control commission to pledge, transfer and assign any obligation or security of a state agency as security for the payment of the principal and interest on the issuance and sale of bonds by the state board of finance pursuant to the Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act; in Subsection B, Paragraph B(1), after "of each", added "state agency or", and in Paragraph B(2), after "for the", added "state agency or"; and in Subsection N, after "pursuant to this", deleted "subsection" and added "section".