Chapter 262
2010 -- S 2981
Enacted 06/25/10
A N A C T
AUTHORIZING THE
TOWN OF
Introduced By: Senator John J. Tassoni
Date Introduced: June 04, 2010
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. The Town of
previously granted, to issue its general obligation bonds and
notes to an amount not exceeding
five million seven hundred thousand dollars ($5,700,000)
at one time or from time to time under
its corporate name and seal or a facsimile of such seal
to finance the development and
construction of a wind turbine and related costs as more fully set
forth in section two. The bonds
of each issue shall mature in annual installments of
principal, the first installment to be not later
than three (3) years and the last installment not later
than twenty-five (25) years after the date of
the bonds. For each issue, the amounts payable annually
for principal and interest combined 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 finance director
and countersigned by the
town manager and the town council president and shall be
issued and sold in such amounts as the
town council may authorize by majority vote of all its
members. The amount of the bond issue,
manner of sale, denominations, maturities, interest rate or
rates, award 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 their 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. The town council may provide that any bonds
issued under this act and any other
authorized issue of bonds of the town may be consolidated and
issued at the same time as a single
bond issue, provided that the last installment of the
portion of any such consolidated issue that is
allocable to the bonds issued under this act shall not be later
than the times specified by the
applicable provisions hereof. The bonds may be made callable
with or without premium. The
proceeds derived from the sale of the bonds shall be delivered
to the finance director, and such
proceeds, exclusive of premiums and accrued interest, shall be
expended for costs of the
development and construction of a wind turbine and/or related
purposes (hereinafter referred to as
the project) if approved by the voters in accordance with
Section 11 hereof, including all other
costs incidental and related to the foregoing project and
its financing pursuant to this act
including, but not limited to, the payment of the principal of
or interest on temporary notes issued
under section three and the repayment of advances made
under section four. 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 project shall be
carried out and all contracts made
therefor on behalf of the town by the town council, or as may be authorized by
the town council.
The proceeds of bonds or
notes issued under this act, any applicable federal or state assistance
and any other monies referred to in sections five or six
shall be deemed appropriated for the
purposes 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 under this act 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 finance director.
Temporary notes issued
hereunder shall be signed by the finance director and countersigned by
the town manager and the town council president 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. Any
temporary notes in anticipation of bonds
issued under this section may be refunded prior to the
maturity of the notes by the issuance of
additional temporary notes, provided that no such refunding
shall result in any amount of such
temporary notes outstanding at any one time in excess of two
hundred percent of the amount of
bonds which may be issued under this act, and provided
further that if issuance of any such
refunding notes results in any amount of such temporary notes
outstanding at any one time in
excess of the amount of bonds which may be issued under this
act, the proceeds of such refunding
notes shall be deposited in a separate fund established with
the bank which is paying agent for the
notes being refunded. Pending their use to pay the notes
being refunded, moneys in the fund shall
be invested for the benefit of the town by the paying
agent at the direction of the finance director
in any investment permitted under section five. The
moneys in the fund and any investments held
as a part of the fund shall be held in trust and shall
be applied by the paying agent solely to the
payment or prepayment of the principal of and interest on the
notes being refunded. Upon
payment of all principal of and interest on the notes, any
excess moneys in the fund shall be
distributed to the town. The period for which bonds may be issued
under this act need not be
reduced by the period of any temporary loans hereunder. The
proceeds derived from the sale of
such temporary notes shall be used only for the purposes
for which the proceeds of bonds issued
under this act may be used.
SECTION 4. Pending any issue of bonds or notes hereunder,
the finance director, 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 for 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 finance
director in demand deposits, time deposits or savings deposits
in banks which are members of the
federal deposit insurance corporation, in obligations issued
or guaranteed by the
either of them, or as may be provided in any other
applicable law of the State of
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 finance director, 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 or more
of the foregoing. The cost of preparing,
issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder may also, in
the discretion of the finance
director, be met from bond or note proceeds exclusive of
premiums and accrued interest or from
other monies available therefor.
Any balance of bond or note proceeds remaining after payment
of the cost of the project and the cost of preparing,
issuing and marketing bonds or notes
hereunder may be applied to the payment of the principal of or
interest on bonds or notes issued
hereunder. Any earnings or net profit realized from the deposit
or investment of funds hereunder
shall upon receipt be added to and used for the same
purposes as the proceeds of bonds or notes
issued hereunder. In exercising any discretion under this
section, the finance director shall be
governed by any instructions adopted by resolution of the town
council. The finance director is
authorized to take any action deemed by him or her necessary to
assure that interest on the bonds
or notes issued hereunder remains excludable from gross
income of the recipients thereof for
federal income tax purposes, including, without limitation,
paying to the federal government any
rebate of earnings derived from the deposit or investment of
the proceeds of such bonds or notes
that may be required therefor.
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 monies 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 the rate or amount.
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 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
monies provided in the act. To the extent of any
inconsistency between any law of the 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, all action shall
be taken which is necessary to meet
constitutional requirements whether or not such section 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. Should the Smithfield Town Council so direct by
resolution, the question
of the approval of the project set forth in section 2
hereof shall be submitted to the voters at a
general or special election, or at a financial town meeting,
as determined by said resolution of the
Town
Council. The question shall be
submitted in substantially the following form:
“Shall
an act, passed at the 2010 session of the general assembly, authorizing the
Town
of
Purposes of Development and
Construction of a Wind Turbine Be Approved?”
Unless
the aforementioned resolution is adopted by the Smithfield Town Council, the
stated question shall not be submitted to the voters as
aforesaid.
The
warning for the election or financial town meeting shall contain the question
to be
submitted. From the time the election or financial town meeting
is warned and until it is held, it
shall be the duty of the town clerk to keep a copy of this
act available at his or her office for
public inspection, but the validity of the vote taken at the
election or financial town meeting shall
not be affected by this requirement.
SECTION 12. This section and section 11 shall take effect
upon the passage of this act.
The remainder of this act
shall take effect upon the approval of the question listed in section 11
hereof by a majority of those voting on the question as
prescribed by the foregoing section.
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LC02857
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