Chapter
025
2003 -- H 6305
Enacted 04/10/03
A N A C T
AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF
LINCOLN TO ISSUE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS
AND NOTES IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO
EXCEED $35,000,000 FOR THE ACQUISITION OF
LAND FOR A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL
AND SCHOOL FACILITIES, THE
CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW MIDDLE
SCHOOL AND ADDITIONS TO EXISTING
SCHOOLS, AND THE RENOVATION,
REHABILITATION, REPAIR, IMPROVEMENTS,
FURNISHING AND EQUIPPING OF
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL FACILITIES, AND THE
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
IN THE TOWN
Introduced By:
Representatives Menard, Petrarca, and McManus
Date
Introduced: April 10, 2003
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. The town of Lincoln is hereby empowered, in addition to authority
previously granted, to issue
general obligation bonds and notes to an amount not exceeding thirty-
five million dollars ($35,000,000)
from time to time under its corporate name and seal. The bonds
of each issue may be issued in the
form of serial bonds or term bonds or a combination thereof
and shall be payable either by
maturity of principal in the case of serial bonds or by mandatory
serial redemption in the case of
term bonds, in annual installments of principal, the first
installment to be not later than
five (5) years and the last installment not later than thirty (30)
years after the date of the bonds.
For each issue, the amounts payable annually for principal and
interest combined either shall be
as nearly equal from year to year as is practicable in the opinion
of the officers authorized to
issue the bonds, or shall be arranged in accordance with a schedule
providing for a more rapid
amortization of principal.
SECTION
2. The bonds shall be signed by the director of finance, the president of the
town council and the town
administrator and shall be issued and sold in such amounts as the town
council may authorize. The manner
of sale, denominations, maturities, interest rates and other
terms, conditions and details of
any bonds or notes issued under this act may be fixed by the
proceedings of the town council
authorizing the issue or by separate resolution of the town
council or, to the extent
provisions for these matters are not so made, they may be fixed by the
officers authorized to sign the
bonds or notes. The proceeds derived from the sale of the bonds
shall be delivered to the director
of finance, and such proceeds, exclusive of premiums and
accrued interest, shall be
expended (a) for the acquisition of land for a new middle school and
school facilities, the
construction of a new middle school and additions to existing schools, and
the renovation, rehabilitation,
repair, improvements, furnishing and equipping of schools and
school facilities, and the school
administration building in the town or (b) in payment of principal
or interest on temporary notes
issued under Section three or (c) in repayment of advances under
Section four or (d) in payment of
costs of issuance for bonds or notes issued hereunder including
capitalized interest. No purchaser
of any bonds or notes under this act shall be in any way
responsible for the proper
application of the proceeds derived from the sale thereof. The projects
shall be carried out and all
contracts made therfor on behalf of the town by the town administrator
subject to the approval of the
town council. Notwithstanding any other law, regulation or policy
to the contrary, the provisions of
Section 7-5 of the town charter shall apply to such contracts.
The proceeds of bonds or notes
issued under this act, any applicable federal or state assistance
and the other moneys referred to
in Section six shall be deemed appropriated for the purpose of
this act without further action
than that required by this act.
SECTION
3. The town council may by resolution authorize the issue from time to time of
interest bearing or discounted
notes in anticipation of the issue of bonds or in anticipation of the
receipt of federal or state aid
for the purposes of this act. The amount of original notes issued in
anticipation of bonds may not
exceed the amount of bonds which may be issued under this act
and the amount of original notes
issued in anticipation of federal or state aid may not exceed the
amount of available federal or
state aid as estimated by the director of finance. Temporary notes
issued hereunder shall be signed
by the director of finance, the president of the town council and
the town administrator and shall
be payable within five (5) years from their respective dates, but
the principal of and interest on
notes issued for a shorter period may be renewed or paid from
time to time by the issue of other
notes hereunder, provided the period from the date of an
original note to the maturity of
any note issued to renew or pay the same debt or the interest
thereon shall not exceed five (5)
years.
SECTION
4. Pending any authorization or issue of bonds hereunder or pending or in lieu
of any authorization or issue of
notes hereunder, the director of finance, with the approval of the
town council, may, to the extent
that bonds or notes may be issued hereunder, apply funds in the
treasury of the town to the
purposes specified in section two, such advances to be repaid without
interest from the proceeds of
bonds or notes subsequently issued or from the proceeds of
applicable federal or state
assistance or from other available funds.
SECTION
5. Any proceeds of bonds or notes issued hereunder or of any applicable
federal or state assistance,
pending their expenditure, may be deposited or invested by the director
of finance in demand deposits,
time deposits or savings deposits in banks which are members of
the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation or in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United
States of America or by any agency
or instrumentality thereof or as may be provided in any other
applicable law of the State of
Rhode Island.
SECTION
6. Any accrued interest received upon the sale of bonds or notes hereunder
shall be applied to the payment of
the first interest due thereon. Any premiums arising from the
sale of bonds or notes hereunder
shall, in the discretion of the director of finance, be applied to
the cost of preparing, issuing and
marketing bonds or notes hereunder to the extent not otherwise
provided, to the payment of the
cost of the project, to the payment of the principal of or interest
on bonds or notes issued hereunder
or to any one (1) or more of the foregoing. The cost of
preparing, issuing and marketing
bonds or notes issued hereunder may also, in the discretion of
the director of finance, be met
from bond or note proceeds exclusive of accrued interest or from
other moneys available therefor.
Any balance of bond or note proceeds for ancillary costs
remaining after payment of such
costs may be applied to the cost of a project authorized in
Section 2 hereof. Any balance of
bond or note proceeds remaining after payment of the cost of a
project and the cost of preparing,
issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder may be applied
to any other project authorized in
Section 2 hereof or may be applied to the payment of the
principal of or interest on bonds
or notes issued hereunder, as provided in a resolution of the town
council. Any earnings or net
profit realized from the deposit or investment of funds hereunder
may, upon receipt, be added to and
dealt with as part of the revenues of the town from property
taxes. In exercising any
discretion under this section, the director of finance shall be governed by
any instructions adopted by
resolution of the town council.
SECTION
7. All bonds and notes issued under this act and the debts evidenced thereby
shall be obligatory on the town in
the same manner and to the same extent as other debts lawfully
contracted by it and shall be
excepted from the operation of section 45-12-2 of the general laws.
No such obligation shall at any
time be included in the debt of the town for the purpose of
ascertaining its borrowing
capacity. The town shall annually appropriate a sum sufficient to pay
the principal and interest coming
due within the year on bonds and notes issued hereunder to the
extent that moneys therefor are
not otherwise provided. If such sum is not appropriated, it shall
nevertheless be added to the
annual tax levy. In order to provide such sum in each year and
notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, all taxable property in the town shall be
subject to ad valorem
taxation by the town without limitation as to rate or amount, except as
otherwise provided in tax
concessions authorized pursuant to Chapter 3798 of the Public Laws of
1956.
SECTION
8. Any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this act, if properly
executed by officers of the town
in office on the date of execution, shall be valid and binding
according to their terms
notwithstanding that before the delivery thereof and payment therefor
any or all of such officers shall
for any reason have ceased to hold office.
SECTION
9. The town, acting by resolution of its town council, is authorized to apply
for, contract for and expend any
federal or state advances or other grants or assistance which may
be available for the purposes of
this act, and any such expenditures may be in addition to other
moneys provided in this act. To
the extent of any inconsistency between any law of this state and
any applicable federal law or
regulation, the latter shall prevail. Federal and state advances, with
interest where applicable, whether
contracted for prior to or after the effective date of this act,
may be repaid as project costs
under section two.
SECTION
10. Bonds and notes may be issued under this act without obtaining the
approval of any governmental
agency or the taking of any proceedings or the happening of any
conditions except as specifically
required by this act for such issue. In carrying out any project
financed in whole or in part under
this act, including where applicable the condemnation of any
land or interest in land, and in
the levy and collection of assessments or other charges permitted
by law on account of any such
project, all action shall be taken which is necessary to meet
constitutional requirements
whether or not such action is otherwise required by statute; but the
validity of bonds and notes issued
hereunder shall in no way depend upon the validity or
occurrence of such action.
SECTION
11. The question of the approval of this act shall be submitted to the electors
of the town at a general or special
election to be held on June 3, 2003 or such other date as shall
be designated by the town council
prior to July 1, 2003. The question shall be submitted in
substantially the following form:
“Shall an act, passed at the 2003 session of the general
assembly, entitled ‘AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF LINCOLN TO ISSUE
GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND NOTES
IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
THIRTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS
($35,000,000) FOR THE ACQUISITION OF LAND
FOR A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL AND SCHOOL
FACILITIES, THE CONSTRUCTION OF A
NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL AND ADDITIONS TO
EXISTING SCHOOLS, AND THE
RENOVATION, REHABILITATION,
REPAIR, IMPROVEMENTS, FURNISHING AND
EQUIPPING OF SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL
FACILITIES, AND THE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IN THE
TOWN’ be approved?”
The
warning for the election shall contain the question to be submitted.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in R.I.G.L.
section 17-19-7 to the contrary, the Lincoln Board of Canvassers
may certify the question to the
secretary of state not later than May 1, 2003. From the time the
election is warned and until it is
held, it shall be the duty of the town clerk to keep a copy of the
act available at his or her office
for public inspection, but the validity of the election shall not be
affected by this requirement.
SECTION
12. Sections 11 and 12 would take effect upon the passage of this act. The
remainder of this act would take
effect upon the approval of this act by a majority of those voting
on the question at the election prescribed
by the foregoing section.
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LC03030
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