7-67-112 - Bonds of authority. - Tennessee Statutes

7-67-112. Bonds of authority.

(a)  All bonds issued by the authority shall be issued in accordance with the applicable provisions of title 9, chapter 21, and shall be payable solely out of the revenue and receipts derived from any projects, or of any portion of projects owned, operated or leased to or from the authority, as may be designated by the board of directors of the authority, when the bonds shall be authorized to be issued or from any revenues to be derived directly or indirectly by the authority from such projects, including revenues from concessions, endorsements, ticket sales and souvenir sales, or from any revenues derived directly or indirectly by the authority from the allocation, transfer, contribution or pledge of tax revenues of any nature by a municipality having taxing power, other than tax revenues derived from ad valorem property taxes that shall not be contributed or pledged by a municipality in payment of or collateral for any revenue bonds of the authority. Such bonds may be issued in one (1) or more series, may be executed and delivered by the authority, at any time and from time to time, may be in such form and denomination and of such terms and maturities, may be subject to redemption prior to maturity, either with or without premium, may bear such conversion privileges and be payable in such installments and at such time or times not exceeding forty (40) years from the date of the bonds, may be payable at such place or places whether within or without the state of Tennessee, may bear interest at such rate or rates payable at such time or times and at such place or places and evidenced in such manner, and may contain such provisions not inconsistent with this chapter, all as shall be provided in the proceedings of the board of directors whereunder the bonds shall be authorized to be issued.

(b)  Bonds of the authority shall be executed in the name of the authority by such officers of the authority and in such manner as the board of directors may direct, and shall be sealed with the corporate seal of the authority. If so provided in the proceedings authorizing the bonds, the facsimile signature of any of the officers executing such bonds and a facsimile of the corporate seal of the authority may appear on the bonds in lieu of the manual signature of such officer and the manual impress of such seal.

(c)  Any bonds of the authority may be sold at public or private sale, for such price and in such manner and from time to time as may be determined by the board of directors of the authority to be most advantageous, and the authority may pay all expenses, premiums and commissions that its board of directors may deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the issuance of the bonds.

(d)  Any bonds of the authority, at any time outstanding, may, at any time and from time to time, be refunded by the authority by the issuance of its refunding bonds in such amount as the board of directors may deem necessary, which may include amounts sufficient to refund the principal of the bonds so to be refunded, any unpaid interest necessary or incidental and any premiums, commissions or other expenses or charges. Any such refunding may be effected whether the bonds to be refunded shall have then matured or shall thereafter mature, either by sale of the refunding bonds and the application of the proceeds of the refunding bonds to the payment of the bonds to be refunded by the refunding bonds, or by the exchange of the refunding bonds for the bonds to be refunded by the refunding bonds, with the consent of the holders of the bonds so to be refunded, and regardless of whether or not the bonds to be refunded were issued in connection with the same projects or separate projects, and regardless of whether or not the bonds proposed to be refunded shall be payable on the same date or different dates or shall be due serially or otherwise.

(e)  Interim certificates or notes or other temporary obligations issued by the authority pending the issuance of its revenue bonds shall be payable out of revenues and receipts in like manner as such revenue bonds and shall be retired from the proceeds of such bonds upon the issuance of the revenue bonds, and shall be in such form and contain such terms, conditions and provisions consistent with the provisions of this chapter as the board of directors may determine.

(f)  (1)  Notwithstanding any provisions of this section or any other law to the contrary, a sports authority and the municipality in which it is located may enter into an agreement under which all or any portion of the real property ad valorem taxes paid by the owner of a sports facility shall be paid into a special enterprise fund of the municipality, subject to the conditions set forth in this subdivision (f)(1). The municipality is authorized to use the moneys in such enterprise fund in order to make any payments due to the sports authority from the municipality under a contractual obligation. Such an enterprise fund may only be utilized where the funds paid from the special enterprise fund to the sports authority shall be principally used by the sports authority to make payments on revenue bonds issued by the sports authority, where the net proceeds of such bonds were used by the sports authority to acquire, construct or equip systems, improvements or facilities that are public improvements dedicated for public use, and such improvements were made by the sports authority in order to assist in the development and construction of such sports facility, and the sports authority is authorized to pledge any moneys paid to it from such enterprise fund as collateral for such revenue bonds, notwithstanding the provisions of § 7-67-113. The agreement between the sports authority and the municipality shall not be effective unless approved by the comptroller of the treasury.

     (2)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (f)(1), if the sports authority is not the owner of the sports and recreational facility, then prior to the issuance of any bonds for a project as defined in § 7-67-103(8) related to the sports and recreational facility, the sports authority, in addition to the pledge of revenues from the project as the source of payment for such bonds, shall provide further security for the payment of the bonds, such as bond insurance, a surety bond, a letter of credit, a third party guarantee, the contractual obligation of the owner or operator of the sports facility as to its ownership and operation during the term of the bonds, or other similar security, all of which must be submitted to the comptroller of the treasury for approval.

[Acts 1993, ch. 378, § 12; 1999, ch. 18, §§ 4, 5.]