Title 23
Health and Safety

Chapter 19
Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation

§ 23-19-17. Capital reserve funds and appropriations.

(a) The corporation may create and establish one or more special funds (referred to as “capital reserve funds”) and shall pay into each capital reserve fund:

(1) Any money appropriated and made available by the state for the purpose of the fund;

(2) Any proceeds of the sale of notes or bonds to the extent provided in the resolution or resolutions of the corporation authorizing the issuance of notes or bonds; and

(3) Any other money which may be made available to the corporation for the purpose of the fund from any other source or sources.

(b) All money held in any capital reserve fund, except as hereinafter provided, shall be used, as required, solely for the payment of the principal of bonds secured in whole or in part by the fund or of the sinking fund payments hereinafter mentioned with respect to the bonds, the purchase or redemption of the bonds, the payment of interest on the bonds or the payment of any redemption premium required to be paid when the bonds are redeemed prior to maturity; provided, however, that money in the fund shall not be withdrawn at any time in an amount that would reduce the amount of the fund to less than the minimum capital reserve requirement established for the fund as hereinafter provided except for the purpose of making, with respect to bonds secured in whole or in part by the fund, payment when due, of principal, interest, redemption premiums, and the sinking fund payments hereinafter mentioned for the payment of which other moneys of the corporation are not available. Any income or interest earned by, or incremental to, any capital reserve fund due to the investment thereof, may be transferred by the corporation to other funds or accounts of the corporation to the extent it does not reduce the amount of the capital reserve fund below the minimum capital reserve fund requirement for the fund.

(c)(1) The corporation shall not at any time issue bonds secured in whole or in part by a capital reserve fund, if, upon the issuance of the bonds, the amount in the capital reserve fund will be less than the minimum capital reserve fund requirement for the fund, unless the corporation, at the time of the issuance of the bonds, shall deposit in the fund from the proceeds of the bonds to be issued, or from other sources, an amount which, together with the amount then in the fund, will not be less than the minimum capital reserve fund requirement for the fund.

(2) For the purposes of this section, “minimum capital reserve fund requirement” means an amount of money, as provided in the resolution or resolutions of the corporation authorizing the bonds or notes with respect to which the fund is established, equal to not more than the greatest of the respective amounts, for the current or any future fiscal year of the corporation, of annual debt service on the bonds of the corporation secured in whole or in part by the fund, the annual debt service for any fiscal year being the amount of money equal to the aggregate of:

(i) All interest payable during the fiscal year on all bonds secured in whole or in part by the fund outstanding on the date of computation; plus

(ii) The principal amount of all the bonds outstanding on the date of computation which mature during the fiscal year; plus

(iii) All amounts specified in any resolution of the authority authorizing any of the bonds as payable during the fiscal year as a sinking fund payment with respect to any of the bonds which mature after the fiscal year, all 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 application in accordance with the resolution authorizing those bonds of all the sinking fund payments payable at or after the date of computation.

(d) In computing the amount of the capital reserve funds for the purpose of this section, securities in which all or a portion of the funds shall be invested shall be valued as provided in the proceedings under which the bonds are authorized, but in no event shall be valued at a value greater than par.

(e) To assure the continued operation and solvency of the corporation for the carrying out of its corporate purposes, provision is made in subsection (a) for the accumulation in each capital reserve fund of an amount equal to the minimum capital reserve fund requirements for the fund. To further assure the maintenance of the capital reserve funds, the chairperson of the corporation shall annually, on or before December 1st, make and deliver to the governor his or her certificate stating the sum, if any, required to restore each capital reserve fund to the minimum capital reserve fund requirement for the fund. During each January session of the general assembly, the governor shall submit to the general assembly printed copies of a budget including the sum, if any, required to restore each capital reserve fund to the minimum capital reserve fund requirement for the fund. All sums appropriated by the general assembly, if any, and paid to the corporation shall be deposited by the corporation in the applicable capital reserve fund.

(f) All amounts paid over to the corporation by the state pursuant to the provisions of this section shall constitute and be accounted for as advances by the state to the corporation and, subject to the rights of the holders of any bonds or notes of the corporation previously or thereafter issued, shall be repaid to the state without interest from all available operating revenues of the corporation in excess of amounts required for the payment of bonds, notes, or other obligations of the corporation, the capital reserve funds and operating expenses.

(g) The corporation shall create and establish any other funds that may be necessary or desirable for its corporate purposes.

(h) The corporation may by resolution permit the issuance of bonds and notes to carry out the purposes of this chapter without establishing a capital reserve fund pursuant to this section and without complying with the limitations set forth in this section. Bonds and notes issued pursuant to this subsection may be secured by any other funds or methods that the corporation may in its discretion determine by resolution.