Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 48-2021, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE48-2021. Issuance of bonds; subsequent bond
issues
A. If a majority of the votes cast at a bond
election favors the bonded indebtedness proposed, bonds of the district for the
amount stated shall be issued and sold.
B. The board of directors shall, subject to the provisions of this article, shall prescribe by resolution the form of the
bonds and interest coupons attached thereto. The bonds shall be
payable serially over a period of not more than twenty years from the date
thereof at a place fixed by the board and designated in the bonds, together
with the interest thereon from the date of the bonds until paid, except that if the initial purchaser of the bonds is the
United States of America or any department, division or agency of the United
States of America, the bonds may mature over a period that does not exceed
forty years and three months. Interest shall be
payable semiannually at the rate or rates set by the accepted bid, which shall not exceed the
maximum rate of interest set forth in the resolution calling the election. The
bonds may be refunded. The board of directors may provide for their
redemption before maturity on giving such notice as the board determines to be
reasonable and for the payment of a premium at redemption if the board
determines the premium to be reasonable or advisable.
C. The bonds may be issued in such denominations as
the board of directors determines, except that no bond shall be of a
denomination less than five hundred nor more than ten thousand
dollars. Each bond shall be signed by the chairman of the board of
directors and countersigned by the auditor of the sanitary district, and the
seal of the district shall be affixed thereto. The interest coupons
of the bonds, if any, shall be numbered consecutively and shall be signed by
the chairman of the board of directors and the auditor of the district by their
engraved or lithographed signatures. If any officer whose signature
or countersignature appears on a bond or interest coupon ceases to be such
officer, either before or after delivery of the bond to the purchaser, the
signature or countersignature shall be valid for all purposes as if the officer
had remained in office.
D. The validity of the bonds, after their issuance,
shall not be questioned in any court,
except on the ground that a provision of this article authorizing their
issuance is unconstitutional or that proper notice of the bond election was not
given.
E. When bonds have been issued by a sanitary
district and the proceeds of the sale thereof have been expended as authorized
by this article, the board of directors may, by resolution passed by a vote of
not less than two‑thirds of its members, determine that additional bonds
for carrying out the purposes of the district should be issued. Thereupon the
board of directors shall cause another survey and report to be made. Upon On approval thereof as provided by this
article for an original report, the board shall submit to the qualified
electors of the district, in the manner prescribed by section 48‑2020,
the question of issuing additional bonds. If a majority of the votes
cast thereon is in favor of issuing the additional bonds, they may be issued
and sold and the proceeds disposed of in the manner prescribed by subsections
A, B, C and D of this section and by section 48‑2022.
F. The district may issue refunding bonds to refund
all or any portion of an issue of bonds issued pursuant to this section in the
manner prescribed by title 35, chapter 3, article 4. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 48-2045, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE48-2045. Plans; limitation on assessment
Before passing the resolution of intention, preliminary plans, specifications and estimates of the cost
that show the location and the type and
CHARACTER of the proposed improvement and the expenses of the improvement shall be
prepared by the engineer and filed with the clerk. The assessment for any lot
shall not exceed its proportion of the estimate. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 48-2065, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE48-2065. List of unpaid assessments; issuance
of bonds; denominations; due date
A. After the prescribed time from the date of the
warrant has expired and after the sanitary district has recorded the return,
the board shall make and certify a complete list of all unpaid assessments which that amount to twenty-five dollars or more on
any assessment.
B. If any person, before certification of the list,
presents to the board an affidavit that he is the owner of a lot on the list,
accompanied by the certificate of a searcher of record that the person is the
owner of record, and notifies the board, in writing, that he desires no bond to
be issued for the assessment on the lot, the assessment shall not be included
in the list and shall remain collectible as provided in this
article. The failure to file the notice bars any defense against the
bonds, except for the
defense that the board did not have authority to issue the bonds.
C. The clerk shall present the list to the district
at its next meeting after the return has been recorded. At any time
after awarding a contract for construction or acquisition, the district may, by resolution, may direct improvement bonds to
be issued in an amount,
which shall not exceed the amount of unpaid assessments exceeding twenty‑five
dollars as may be shown on the certified list. The resolution shall
prescribe the maximum number and denomination of the bonds, and the times when
payable, which shall be so fixed that an approximately equal amount of
principal shall be paid each year or any approximately equal aggregate amount
of principal and interest shall be paid each year until the whole amount is
paid. The bonds shall mature in a period which that
does not exceed twenty-five years and three months from the date of the bonds, except that if the initial purchaser of the
bonds is the United States of America or any department, division or agency of
the United States of America, the bonds may mature over a period that does not
exceed forty years and three months. The denominations of the
bonds shall be fixed by the district. The district may provide in
the form of the bond for redemption before maturity by giving such notice as
the district determines to be reasonable and by the payment of a premium at
redemption if the district determines a premium is advisable. The
resolution shall also fix the place, if any, other than the office of the
treasurer, at which the bonds and the interest are payable.
D. The bonds shall be issued as of the date
determined by the district and shall bear interest from such date at the rate
not to exceed that specified in the resolution of intention. They
shall have semiannual interest payments, the first of which is payable on
January 1 or July 1, as the case may be, occurring no earlier than ninety days
after the later of the date of the bond or the expected completion of the work,
and shall be for the interest accrued at that time.
E. The due date of all bonds is January 1 or July 1,
as stated on the face of the bonds, in the years in which they respectively
become due.
F. The district may sell the bonds at public sale,
or if the district has a population of more than two thousand persons and has
been in existence for ten or more years at public or private sale,
at a price at or above par and accrued interest to the date of payment, and at
an interest rate not exceeding the maximum rate set in the resolution of
intention. If the bonds are not sold by the district they shall be
delivered to the contractor for the amount of the assessments remaining unpaid,
and the bonds shall bear interest at the maximum interest rate set forth in the
resolution of intention.
G. If the bonds are sold before the work or
acquisition is completed, the proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be
placed in a special fund to be held by the treasurer and to be used to pay
incidental expenses and payments for construction or
acquisition. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be used for
the acquisition mentioned in the resolution of intention or to make semimonthly
or monthly payments to the contractor on a basis of ninety per cent of the
value of the work actually performed as estimated by the district or engineer
employed for such purposes to and including the fifteenth or last day of each
calendar month. The balance shall be paid after the district has
recorded a certificate of substantial completion of the work described in the
resolution of intention, in the same manner as the recording of the
assessment. The district shall record the certificate after the work
has been completed to its satisfaction. The district shall also
cause a copy of the notice of completion to be mailed to each property owner in
the same manner as the notice of hearing on the assessment. Pending
use of the bond proceeds, the treasurer may invest the proceeds in any
investments for which sinking funds of this state may be invested or in the
pooled investment fund established under section 35‑326. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if bond anticipation notes have been issued, the bond proceeds,
or so much as are necessary, shall be used to redeem the notes.
H. Refunding bonds may be issued to refund all or
any portion of an issue of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this section in
the manner prescribed by title 35, chapter 3, article 4. END_STATUTE
Sec. 4. Section 48-2081, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE48-2081. Bond anticipation notes; form;
procedures applicable
A. If the board determines and states in the
resolution of intention that improvement bonds shall be issued, bond
anticipation notes may be sold at any time after the award of a construction
contract, except that bond anticipation
notes to pay the estimated engineering fees may be issued at any time after the
adoption of the resolution ordering the improvement.
B. Bond anticipation notes shall be paid solely from
the proceeds of the sale of improvement bonds and monies collected from
property owners who want to pay all or part of their assessments in cash before
the filing of the certified list of unpaid assessments as provided in section
48‑2065, or for bond anticipation
notes issued to pay estimated engineering fees, from the proceeds of the sale
of improvement bonds or from a tax levy imposed by the district pursuant to
section 48‑2056, subsection B. The notes may be in such
form and denomination as the board provides. The notes shall be
executed by the chairman of the board and attested by the
secretary. The notes may bear interest from their date at a rate not
in excess of the maximum rate shown in the resolution of
intention. The term of the notes shall not be more than six months
beyond the date set for completion of the construction. The board
may repay such notes before maturity and without penalty or extend the life of
the notes if the term of the construction contract is extended or if any
default is made by the contractor. The notes shall be authorized by
resolution of the board.
C. The total amount of notes issued for any
improvement shall not be greater than the aggregate of ninety per cent of the
contract price and the total estimated amount of incidental
expenses. The notes shall be sold at not less than par at either
public or private sale. If authorized by the board, the chairman may
enter into loan agreements with the purchaser of the notes relative to:
1. The time and place of delivery.
2. The sale of improvement bonds to the purchaser of
the notes if the district is unable to procure a purchaser willing to purchase
the bonds when issued.
3. Making the demand on the owners of property for
payment in cash.
4. Collection of cash payments from persons who want
to pay their assessments in cash and application of such cash payments to the
repayment of the notes.
5. Payment of an additional fee to the purchaser of
the note to cover the administrative expenses of the cash collections if the
purchaser is the person to whom cash collections are made.
D. To secure the payment of the notes the loan
agreements may also provide for a collateral assignment to the purchaser of the
notes of all cash collections, the warrant and the district's interest in the
performance bond.
E. The proceeds from the sale of the notes shall be
placed in a special fund to be held by the treasurer and used for payment of
incidental expenses and payments to the construction contractor.
F. Proceeds from the sale of the notes shall be used
to make semimonthly or monthly payments to the contractor on a basis of ninety
per cent of the value of the work actually performed, as estimated by the
engineer employed for such purpose, up to and including the fifteenth or last
day of each calendar month. The balance shall be paid to the
contractor after the sale of the bonds solely from the proceeds from the bond
sale, or if bonds equal to the balance remaining cannot be sold, the balance
shall be paid by delivery of a similar principal amount of bonds to the
contractor.
G. The issuance of bond anticipation notes
constitutes an assignment to the district of the monies due the contractor
under the construction contract. The district may agree with the
contractor that the district will make the demands for cash payments as
provided in section 48‑2058 or may authorize the purchaser of the bond
anticipation notes to make the cash collections.
H. If bonds are issued to represent any assessments
remaining unpaid on the date the list is certified, the district shall sell the
bonds and use the proceeds to redeem the notes and pay the balance due to the
contractor.
I. In addition to any incidental expenses included
in the assessment, if bond anticipation notes are issued, the notes may also
include in the incidental expenses all interest accruing on the bond
anticipation notes, the added costs of cash collections, if any, and all legal
or financial fees incurred in the issuance and sale of the bond anticipation
notes.
J. If bond anticipation notes have been issued and
the contractor has been paid in accordance with subsection F of this section,
the district shall apply the proceeds collected from demands on the property
owners to the reduction of the outstanding portion of the bond anticipation
notes and, if the notes have been paid, to the contractor to reduce any balance
due him.END_STATUTE
Sec. 5. Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve
the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by
law.
