229.74 Special debt service reserve funds.

(1) Designation of special debt service reserve funds. A district may designate one or more accounts in funds created under s. 66.0621 (4) (e) as special debt service reserve funds, if, prior to each issuance of bonds to be secured by the special debt service reserve fund, the secretary of administration determines that all of the following conditions are met with respect to the bonds:

(a) Purpose. The proceeds of the bonds, other than refunding bonds, will be used for baseball park facilities.

(b) Feasibility. The proceeds of bonds, other than refunding bonds, will be used for feasible projects and there is a reasonable likelihood that the bonds will be repaid without the necessity of drawing on funds in the special debt service reserve fund that secures the bonds. The secretary of administration may make the determinations required under this paragraph only after considering all of the following:

1. Whether a pledge of the tax revenues of the district is made under the bond resolution.

2. How the tax revenues of the district are pledged to the payment of the bonds.

3. Revenue projections for the project to be financed by the bonds, including tax revenues, and the reasonableness of the assumptions on which these revenue projections are based.

4. The proposed interest rates of the bonds and the resulting cash-flow requirements.

5. The projected ratio of annual tax revenues to annual debt service of the district, taking into account capitalized interest.

6. Whether an understanding exists providing for repayment by the district to the state of all amounts appropriated to the special debt service reserve fund pursuant to sub. (7).

8. Whether the district has agreed that the department of administration will have direct and immediate access, at any time and without notice, to all records of the district.

(c) Limit on bonds issued. The amount of all bonds, other than refunding bonds, that would be secured by all special debt service reserve funds of the district will not exceed $160,000,000. In determining compliance with the limitation under this paragraph, the secretary of administration need not include bonds that are secured by a special debt service reserve fund to the extent that proceeds of the bonds are for the following purposes:

1. To make a deposit into a special debt service reserve fund.

2. To pay issuance costs of bonds secured by a special debt service reserve fund.

3. To pay capitalized interest costs on bonds secured by a special debt service reserve fund.

4. To pay any original issue discount.

(d) Date of issuance. The bonds, other than refunding bonds, will be issued no later than December 31, 2000.

(e) Refunding bonds. All refunding bonds to be secured by the special debt service reserve fund meet all of the following conditions:

1. The refunding bonds are to be issued to fund, refund or advance refund bonds secured by a special debt service reserve fund.

2. The refunding of bonds by the refunding bonds will not adversely affect the risk that the state will be called on to make a payment under sub. (7).

(f) Approval of outstanding debt. All outstanding debt of the district has been reviewed and approved by the secretary of administration. In determining whether to approve outstanding debt under this paragraph, the secretary may consider any factor which the secretary determines to have a bearing on whether the state moral obligation pledge under sub. (7) should be granted with respect to an issuance of bonds.

(g) Financial reports. The district has agreed to provide to the department of administration, the legislative fiscal bureau and the legislative audit bureau all financial reports of the district and all regular monthly statements of any trustee of the bonds on a direct and ongoing basis.

(2) Payment of funds into a special debt service reserve fund. A district shall pay into any special debt service reserve fund of the district any moneys appropriated and made available by the state for the purposes of the special debt service reserve fund, any proceeds of a sale of bonds to the extent provided in the bond resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds and any other moneys that are made available to the district for the purpose of the special debt service reserve fund from any other source.

(3) Use of moneys in the special debt service reserve fund. All moneys held in any special debt service reserve fund of a district, except as otherwise specifically provided, shall be used, as required, solely for the payment of the principal of bonds secured in whole or in part by the special debt service reserve fund, the making of sinking fund payments with respect to these bonds, the purchase or redemption of these bonds, the payment of interest on these bonds or the payment of any redemption premium required to be paid when these bonds are redeemed prior to maturity. If moneys in a special debt service reserve fund at any time are less than the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for the special debt service reserve fund, the district may not use these moneys for any optional purchase or optional redemption of the bonds. Any income or interest earned by, or increment to, any special debt service reserve fund due to the investment of moneys in the special debt service reserve fund may be transferred by the district to other funds or accounts of the district to the extent that the transfer does not reduce the amount of the special debt service reserve fund below the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for the special debt service reserve fund.

(4) Limitation on bonds secured by a special debt service reserve fund. A district shall accumulate in each special debt service reserve fund an amount equal to the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for the special debt service reserve fund. A district may not at any time issue bonds secured in whole or in part by a special debt service reserve fund if upon the issuance of these bonds the amount in the special debt service reserve fund will be less than the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for the special debt service reserve fund.

(5) Special debt service reserve fund requirement. The special debt service reserve fund requirement for a special debt service reserve fund, as of any particular date of computation, is equal to an amount of money, as provided in the bond resolution authorizing the bonds with respect to which the special debt service reserve fund is established, that may not exceed the maximum annual debt service on the bonds of the district for that fiscal year or any future fiscal year of the district secured in whole or in part by that special debt service reserve fund. In computing the annual debt service for any fiscal year, bonds deemed to have been paid in accordance with the defeasance provisions of the bond resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds shall not be included in bonds outstanding on such date of computation. The annual debt service for any fiscal year is the amount of money equal to the aggregate of all of the following calculated on the assumption that the bonds will, after the date of computation, cease to be outstanding by reason, but only by reason, of the payment of bonds when due, and the payment when due, and application in accordance with the bond resolution authorizing those bonds, of all of the sinking fund payments payable at or after the date of computation:

(a) All interest payable during the fiscal year on all bonds that are secured in whole or in part by the special debt service reserve fund and that are outstanding on the date of computation.

(b) The principal amount of all of the bonds that are secured in whole or in part by the special debt service reserve fund, are outstanding on the date of computation and mature during the fiscal year.

(c) All amounts specified in bond resolutions of the district authorizing any of the bonds that are secured in whole or in part by the special debt service reserve fund to be payable during the fiscal year as a sinking fund payment with respect to any of the bonds that mature after the fiscal year.

(6) Valuation of securities. In computing the amount of a special debt service reserve fund for the purposes of this section, securities in which all or a portion of the special debt service reserve fund is invested shall be valued at par, or, if purchased at less than par, at their cost to the district.

(7) State moral obligation pledge. If at any time of valuation the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for a special debt service reserve fund exceeds the amount of moneys in the special debt service reserve fund, the district board shall certify to the secretary of administration, the governor, the joint committee on finance and the governing body of each county in the district the amount necessary to restore the special debt service reserve fund to an amount equal to the special debt service reserve fund requirement under sub. (5) for the special debt service reserve fund. If this certification is received by the secretary of administration in an even-numbered year prior to the completion of the budget compilation under s. 16.43, the secretary shall include the certified amount in the budget compilation. In any case, the joint committee on finance shall introduce in either house, in bill form, an appropriation of the amount so certified to the appropriate special debt service reserve fund of the district. Recognizing its moral obligation to do so, the legislature hereby expresses its expectation and aspiration that, if ever called upon to do so, it shall make this appropriation.

(8) Information to joint committee on finance. The district shall provide to the cochairpersons of the joint committee on finance information concerning the district's projected cashflows and security features underlying each issuance of bonds under this subchapter.

History: 1995 a. 56; 1999 a. 150 s. 672.