357H.8 Certificates, contracts, and other obligations — standby tax.

To provide funds for the payment of the costs of improvement projects and for the payment of other activities authorized pursuant to section 357H.7, the board of trustees may borrow money and issue and sell certificates or may enter into contracts or other obligations payable from a sufficient portion of the future receipts of tax revenue authorized pursuant to section 357H.9 and the standby tax in subsection 4 of this section. The receipts shall be pledged to the payment of principal of and interest on the certificates, contracts, or other obligations.

1. Certificates may be sold at public sale or at private sale at par, premium, or discount at the discretion of the board of trustees. Chapter 75 does not apply to the issuance of these certificates.

2. Certificates may be issued with respect to a single improvement project or multiple projects and may contain terms or conditions as the board of trustees may provide by resolution authorizing the issuance of the certificates. However, certificates, including certificates to refund outstanding certificates under subsection 3, shall not be issued if the maturity date of the certificates would be after the date the rural improvement zone is, at the time of issuing the certificates, to be dissolved by law under section 357H.10.

3. Certificates issued to refund other certificates may be sold at public sale or at private sale as provided in this section with the proceeds from the sale to be used for the payment of the certificates being refunded. The refunding certificates may be exchanged in payment and discharge of the certificates being refunded, in installments at different times, or an entire issue or series at one time. Refunding certificates may be sold or exchanged at any time on, before, or after the maturity of the outstanding certificates to be refunded, may be issued for the purpose of refunding a like, greater, or lesser principal amount of certificates, and may bear a rate of interest higher or lower than, or equivalent to, the rate of interest on certificates being renewed or refunded.

4. To further secure the payment of the certificates, the board of trustees shall, by resolution, provide for the assessment of an annual levy of a standby tax upon all taxable property within the rural improvement zone. The rate of the standby tax shall be not less than fifty cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of the taxable property and not more than two dollars and fifty cents per thousand dollars of the assessed value of the taxable property. A copy of the resolution shall be sent to the county auditor. The revenues from the standby tax shall be deposited in a special fund and shall be expended only for the payment of principal of and interest on the certificates issued as provided in this section, when the receipt of tax revenues pursuant to section 357H.9 is insufficient. If payments are necessary and made from the special fund, the amount of the payments shall be promptly repaid into the special fund from the first available payments received which are not required for the payment of principal of or interest on certificates due. No reserves may be built up in the special fund in anticipation of a projected default. The board of trustees shall adjust the annual standby tax levy for each year to reflect the amount of revenues in the special fund and the amount of principal and interest which is due in that year.

5. Before certificates, contracts, or other obligations are issued or entered into, the board of trustees shall publish a notice of its intention, stating the amount, the purpose, and the improvement project or projects for which the certificates, contracts, or other obligations are to be issued or entered into. A person may, within fifteen days after the publication of the notice, appeal the decision of the board of trustees in proposing to issue the certificates or to enter into the contracts or other obligations to the district court in the county in which the rural improvement zone exists. The action of the board of trustees in determining to issue the certificates or to enter into the contracts or other obligations is final and conclusive unless the district court finds that the board of trustees has exceeded its legal authority. An action shall not be brought which questions the legality of the certificates, contracts, or other obligations, the power of the board of trustees to issue the certificates or to enter into the contracts or other obligations, the effectiveness of any proceedings relating to the authorization of the project, or the authorization and issuance of the certificates or entrance into the contracts or other obligations after fifteen days from the publication of the notice of intention to issue certificates or enter into contracts or other obligations.

6. The board of trustees shall determine if revenues are sufficient to secure the faithful performance of obligations.

97 Acts, ch 152, §8; 98 Acts, ch 1168, §3; 2000 Acts, ch 1190, §2; 2015 Acts, ch 97, §8

Referred to in §357H.10