2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 39 - Public Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 39-18 - Rhode Island Public Transit Authority › Section 39-18-7. - Bonds.

§ 39-18-7. Bonds.
(a)
The authority is hereby authorized to provide, by resolution, for the issuance at one time, or from time to time, of bonds of the authority for any of its purposes. The bonds may be general obligations of the authority or special obligations payable only from particular funds. The bonds of each issue shall be dated, shall bear interest at such rate or rates as may be determined by the authority, and shall mature at such time or times not exceeding thirty (30) years from their date or dates as may be determined by the authority, and may be made redeemable before maturity, at the option of the authority, at such price or prices and under such terms and conditions as may be fixed by the authority prior to the issuance of the bonds. Temporary notes of the authority issued in anticipation of revenues to be received by the authority or in anticipation of the receipt of federal, state, or local grants or other aid shall mature no later than thirteen (13) months from their respective dates or six (6) months after the expected date of receipt of the grants or aid, whichever shall be later, and shall be in an amount not exceeding the limitations imposed by the last paragraph of this section. The authority shall determine the form of the bonds, including any interest coupons to be attached thereto, and shall fix the denomination or denominations of the bonds and the place or places of payment of the principal and interest which may be at any bank or trust company within or without the state. The bonds shall be signed by the chairperson of the authority or shall bear his or her facsimile signature, and the official seal of the authority, or a facsimile thereof, shall be impressed or imprinted thereupon and attested by the secretary of the authority, and any coupons attached to the bonds shall bear the facsimile signature of the chairperson of the authority. In case any officer whose signature or facsimile of whose signature shall appear on any bonds or coupons shall cease to be the officer before the delivery of the bonds, the signature or the facsimile shall, nevertheless, be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if he or she had remained in office until delivery. The bonds may be issued in coupon or in registered form, or both, as the authority may determine, and provision may be made for the registration of any coupon bonds as to principal alone, and also as to both principal and interest, for the reconversion into coupon bonds of any bonds registered as to both principal and interest, and for the interchange of registered and coupon bonds. The authority may sell such bonds in such manner either at public or private sale and for the price as it may determine will best effect the purposes of this chapter.
(b)
The proceeds of the bonds of each issue shall be disbursed in the manner and under restrictions, if any, as the authority may provide in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or in the trust agreement described in § 39-18-8 securing the bonds.
(c)
Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds, the authority may, under like restrictions, issue interim receipts or temporary bonds, with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive bonds when the bonds shall have been executed and are available for delivery. The authority may also provide for the replacement of any bonds that shall become mutilated or shall be destroyed or lost. Except as provided in the following paragraph, bonds may be issued under the provisions of this chapter without obtaining the consent of any department, division, commission, board, bureau, or agency of the state, and without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things than those proceedings, conditions, or things that are specifically required by this chapter.
(d)
No bonds shall be issued by the authority unless, at the time of the adoption by the authority of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds, the authority shall have received from the general manager or chief financial officer of the authority a certificate indicating that the payments of principal (including any payments made to a reserve fund other than payments made from bond proceeds) and interest on the bonds, together with the payments of the principal and interest on all other then outstanding bonds of the authority, will not exceed during any fiscal year of the authority eighty percent (80%) of the revenues (including, without limitation, grants and other aid) of the authority during the fiscal year. In determining the amount of the principal and interest payments to be made during any fiscal year, there shall be deducted any payments to be made from a reserve fund previously established to provide for the payments. The certificate shall be based upon the reasonable expectations (both as to the amount of revenues to be received by the authority and as to the maximum amount of any variable payments to be made on the bonds) of the officer of the authority executing the certificate at the time the certificate is delivered. The certificate shall describe with reasonable particularity the calculations of principal and interest payments and of anticipated revenues upon which the certificate is based. A copy of the certificate shall be furnished to the governor prior to the issuance of the bonds described in the certificate and, in the case of any bonds whose issuance, according to the certificate, is expected to result in the aggregate amount of principal and interest payments (calculated as above) on the bonds and all then outstanding bonds of the authority exceeding in any fiscal year of the authority fifty percent (50%) of the revenues of the authority, the bonds shall not be issued unless the governor shall have approved the issuance or not disapproved the issuance within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the certificate. Approval or disapproval of any bond issue by the governor shall be evidenced by delivery to the authority of a certificate approving or disapproving the issue or any part thereof.
History of Section.
P.L. 1964, ch. 210, § 1; P.L. 1965, ch. 127, § 6; P.L. 1983, ch. 157, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 326, § 120.