There is committed to the district the functions of constructing, operating, equipping, maintaining, improving and extending a fire protection and fire control district and the functions of providing other first-responder services to promote the general safety of the district. To that end, the commission must be empowered to:

(1) have perpetual succession;

(2) sue and be sued;

(3) adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;

(4) make bylaws for the management and regulations of its affairs;

(5) acquire, purchase, hold, use, lease, mortgage, sell, transfer, and dispose of any property, real, personal or mixed, or interest in any real, personal or mixed property, and to acquire easements or other property rights necessary for the operation of its stated functions;

(6) appoint officers and agents, and employ paid employees and servants, as well as volunteers, and to prescribe the duties of each of these, fix their compensation, if any, and determine if and to what extent they must be bonded for the faithful performance of their duties, and to establish employment policies;

(7) adopt appropriately competitive policies of procurement suited for the particular needs of the district, as required by Section 11-35-5320;

(8) solicit proposals or bids for and enter into contracts for construction and equipment purchases in accordance with procurement procedures; however, engineering, land surveying, and architectural services must be procured based on qualifications, as required by state law, rather than through competitive bidding;

(9) purchase fire-fighting and other first-responder equipment the commission considers necessary for controlling fires and furnishing fire protection and first-responder services in the district;

(10) select the sites or places within the area where the fire-fighting and other equipment is kept;

(11) provide sufficient personnel or volunteers necessary to man the equipment;

(12) provide and supervise the training of all personnel used in manning the equipment with the end that the equipment is fully utilized for the protection and control of fire and the provision of first-responder services within the district;

(13) be responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and repairs of the trucks and other equipment, and to make regular inspections of all equipment and operations;

(14) promulgate regulations it may consider necessary and proper to insure that the equipment is utilized for the best advantage of the area;

(15) construct, if necessary, buildings to house the equipment provided for in this section;

(16) issue general obligation bonds of the district in the manner and up to the limits provided by Article X, Section 14 of the South Carolina Constitution, 1895, the proceeds of which must be used to defray the costs of constructing and establishing a fire protection and control system in the district and the costs of providing first-responder services in the district. For purposes of this section, the term "construct and establish" includes the cost of direct construction, the cost of all land, property, rights, easements, and franchises acquired that are considered necessary for this fire protection system, the cost of all machinery, equipment, and apparatus needed for this system, payment to contractors, laborers, or others for work done or material furnished, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for six months after completion of construction, cost of engineering services, legal services, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, administrative expenses and other expenses necessary or incidental to the construction of a fire control or fire protection system, and the placing of this system in operation. If bonds are issued pursuant to this item:

(a) They must be issued as a single issue, or from time to time, as several separate issues. They shall bear the date or dates the commission determines and the bonds of an issue shall mature in equal or unequal annual installments determined by the commission. They must be made payable at a place or places the commission prescribes and shall bear interest at a rate or rates payable in the manner the commission determines. The bonds may be registered with the privilege to the holder of having them registered as to principal on the books of the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties and the principal on them made payable to the registered holder, unless the last registered transfer shall have been to bearer, upon conditions the commission may prescribe. A bond issued pursuant to this subitem may be made subject to redemption prior to its stated maturity on the terms and conditions and with a redemption premium the commission prescribes.

(b) They must be sold at not less than par and accrued interest to the date of their respective deliveries at public sale and, at least thirty days prior to a sale, notice announcing the intention to receive bids for the sale of these bonds must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the State of South Carolina. In offering the bonds for sale, the commission reserves the right to reject any and all bids, and if all bids are rejected, the commission may negotiate privately for the disposition of these bonds.

(c) These bonds and all interest to become due on them shall have the tax exempt status prescribed by Section 12-2-50.

(d) These bonds must be executed in the name of "Landrum Fire and Rescue District" by the Chairman of the Landrum Fire and Rescue District Commission and authenticated by the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties and under the seal of the district. The delivery of any bonds so executed and authenticated must be valid, notwithstanding any changes in offices occurring after the execution or authentication.

(e) There must be irrevocably pledged for the payment of the bonds and interest, as they mature, the full faith, credit, and resources of the district, and the auditors and treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties are authorized and directed to annually levy and collect a tax upon all taxable property within the district sufficient to pay the bonds and interest as they respectively mature, and to create a sinking fund as necessary for the redemption of the bonds and interest at their respective maturities. The bonds additionally may be secured by a pledge of the net revenues that the district may derive from the operation of a revenue-producing facility. In that event, net revenues available must be delivered to the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties prior to the occasion when the auditors fix the annual levy. The annual ad valorem tax in this section directed to be levied may be reduced each year by the amount of net revenues actually in the hands of the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties at the time the tax for that year is required to be levied, and the tax may be entirely suspended for any year in case the monies on hand, applicable as aforesaid, are sufficient to pay both principal and interest then due or falling due in that year and remaining unpaid.

(f) The pledge of net revenues authorized by subitem (e), in the discretion of the commission, need not be exclusive and the commission may reserve the right to issue further bonds, payable in whole or in part, from these net revenues, on a parity with the bonds authorized by this subitem under conditions the commission prescribes.

(g) The proceeds derived from the sale of these bonds must be deposited with the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties in a separate and special fund and must be expended upon the warrants and orders of the commission for the purpose specified in this act, and no others except that any premium received must be deposited with the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties and applied by them to the first installment of principal becoming due on the bonds, and any accrued interest received must be applied by the treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties to the first installment of interest becoming due on the bonds. Neither the purchasers of the bonds, nor any subsequent holders of the bonds, are responsible for the proper application of the proceeds of sale.

(h) The issuance of these bonds is exempt from the requirements contained in Article 5, Chapter 11, Title 6.

(17) raise funds for discharging the duties vested in it by levying a property tax for that purpose. The commission may levy for operating purposes without the approval of any additional governing boards or bodies. The commission shall notify the auditors and treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg counties of any desired property tax necessary to fund the annual budget. That tax must be uniformly imposed throughout the district. The auditors shall assess and collect the tax as requested, and the treasurers shall hold the funds and disburse them as directed by the commission. All property taxes shall constitute a lien upon the property against which they are levied, on a parity with the lien of county taxes, and the provisions of law relating to penalties for the nonpayment or tardy payment of county taxes, and the provisions relating to sale of property for delinquent county taxes shall apply to taxes levied pursuant to this act;

(18) exercise the power of eminent domain as provided by the laws of this State to acquire any land, any easement, or any right of way for an authorized public purpose; and

(19) do all other acts necessary or convenient to carry out a function or power granted to the district.

HISTORY: 2015 Act No. 48 (H.3304), Section 1, eff June 3, 2015.