§49-20 Refunding revenue bonds. Whenever the county has any outstanding revenue bonds or general obligation bonds issued for an undertaking or loan program pursuant to section 47-4, and the governing body determines that it will be financially sound and advantageous to the county to refund the outstanding revenue bonds or general obligation bonds, the governing body shall have the power to provide for the issuance of refunding revenue bonds with which to provide for the payment of the outstanding bonds or any part thereof at or before the maturity or redemption date thereof, with the right to include various series and issues of the outstanding bonds in a single issue of refunding revenue bonds and to pay any redemption premium and interest to accrue and become payable on the outstanding bonds being refunded and to establish reserves for the refunding revenue bonds and partly for the construction or acquisition of improvements and additions to and extensions of the undertaking for the construction or acquisition of which the outstanding bonds were issued or in the case of a loan program partly to extend the loan program.
The refunding revenue bonds shall be payable solely from and secured by the revenue of the loan program or undertaking financed from the proceeds of the bonds being refunded, or the user taxes derived with respect to such undertaking, or a combination of both, and shall be a valid claim only as against that revenue, or user taxes, or combination of both. Refunding revenue bonds issued for the purpose of establishing and administering a loan program may also be secured by a pledge of all or a portion of undertakings, mortgages, and other obligations held by the department as security for a loan made under the program. The interest rate or rates of the refunding revenue bonds shall not be limited by the interest rate or rates borne by any of the revenue bonds to be refunded thereby. The refunding revenue bonds, in the discretion of the governing body, may be exchanged at par for the bonds which are being refunded or may be sold in the manner provided in this chapter for revenue bonds, as the governing body shall deem for the best interests of the county. The refunding revenue bonds may be issued and delivered at any time prior to the date of maturity or redemption date of the bonds to be refunded that the governing body determines to be in the best interest of the county. The refunding revenue bonds, except as specifically provided in this section, shall be issued in accordance with this chapter. Pending the time the proceeds derived from the sale of refunding revenue bonds issued hereunder are required for the purposes for which they were issued, the proceeds, upon authorization or approval of the governing body, may be invested in obligations of, or obligations unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America or in savings accounts, time deposits or certificates of deposit of any bank or trust company within or without the State, to the extent that the savings accounts, time deposits, or certificates of deposit are collaterally secured by a pledge of obligations of, or obligations unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America; or in obligations of any state of the United States of America or any agency, instrumentality or local government of any state, the provision for payment of the principal of and interest on which shall have irrevocably been made by deposit of obligations of, or obligations unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America, and to further secure the refunding revenue bonds, or the revenue bonds being refunded, or both, the county may enter into a contract with any bank or trust company, within or without the State, with respect to the safekeeping and application of the proceeds of the refunding revenue bonds, and the safekeeping and application of the earnings of the investment. All bonds so refunded and redeemed by the issue and sale or issue and exchange of refunding revenue bonds shall be canceled.
Nothing in this section shall require or be deemed to require the county to elect to redeem or prepay bonds being refunded, or to redeem or prepay revenue bonds being refunded which were issued in the form customarily known as term bonds in accordance with any sinking fund installment schedule specified in any proceedings authorizing the issuance thereof, or, in the event the county elects to redeem or prepay any such bonds, to redeem or prepay as of any particular date or dates. The determination of the county with respect to the financial soundness and advantage of the issuance and delivery of refunding revenue bonds authorized hereby when approved by the governing body shall be conclusive, but nothing in this section shall require the holders of any outstanding revenue bonds being refunded to accept payment thereof otherwise than as provided in the revenue bonds to be refunded. [L 1989, c 80, pt of §3]