(a) Establishment. Anne Arundel County, Maryland, may establish by local legislation a Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority.
(b) Authority to legislate. The County is authorized to enact, by local legislation, the provisions of this section and provisions to supplement the provisions of this section, if not in conflict with this section.
(c) County authority. The County may:
(1) specify the organization and membership of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority;
(2) specify the purposes of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority;
(3) specify the powers to be exercised by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority;
(4) provide for the exercise of all powers, authority, rights, and obligations required under this section; and
(5) specify any other matters related to the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority as the County may determine.
(d) Required provisions. Local legislation establishing the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority shall contain the following provisions:
(1) a provision establishing the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority as a body corporate and politic, which shall be deemed an instrumentality of the County and a public corporation;
(2) a provision establishing the purposes of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority;
(3) a provision establishing the powers to be exercised by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority, to include all powers necessary or convenient for carrying out its purposes;
(4) a provision establishing regulations relative to members and employees;
(5) a provision establishing that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority may provide by resolution for the issuance of negotiable, taxable and tax exempt revenue bonds, revenue refunding bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness to pay all or part of the cost or purchase price of one or more projects or to refund outstanding revenue bonds, which revenue bonds may be issued without an election referendum or any other proceedings or the occurrence of any other conditions or events;
(6) a provision establishing that the revenue bond proceeds are trust funds for the purposes for which the bonds are authorized;
(7) a provision establishing a lien on the revenue bond proceeds in favor of the holders of any bonds or any trustee until the moneys are applied to the purposes for which the bonds are authorized.
(8) a provision establishing that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority may secure any revenue bond issued to provide funds for any project by a trust indenture between the Authority and a corporate trustee;
(9) a provision establishing that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority may fix rates, fees, rents, and charges for the use of any of its projects sufficient to operate and maintain the project, pay the principal of and interest on its bonds, and maintain a sinking fund pledged and charged with the payment of interest on the principal of the bonds, administrative charges by the depository of the fund paying such principal and interest, and any premium on the bonds retired by call or purchase;
(10) a provision establishing that except for revenues required to pay the cost of operating and maintaining any project and pay the principal of and interest on the bonds and maintain the sinking fund, all other revenues may be placed in a fund pledged and charged with financing projects devoted wholly or partially for public recreational use, including parks, swimming pools, no more than three golf courses, tennis courts, and recreational facilities;
(11) a provision establishing the rights and remedies of bondholders;
(12) a provision establishing that unless otherwise provided in the resolution authorizing any issue of bonds, or unless otherwise provided in the trust indenture that secures the bonds, all moneys be deposited by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority in one or more banks or trust companies in one or more special accounts;
(13) a provision establishing that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority shall have an annual examination of its books, accounts, and records by a certified public accountant; and
(14) a provision establishing that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority is performing an essential governmental function and is not required to pay any tax or assessment on any facility or part of a facility, activities in the operation of any facility, any revenues from operation of any facility or project, or the bonds of the Authority or the interest on them.
(e) Limitation of rights. The State does hereby pledge to and agree with any person, firm or corporation, or federal agency subscribing to or acquiring the revenue bonds to be issued by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority for the construction, extension, improvement, equipping, furnishing or enlargement of any project or part thereof that the State shall not limit or alter the rights hereby vested in the Authority until any revenue bonds issued by the Authority, together with the interest thereon, are fully met and discharged, it being the intent of this section that the Authority shall continue to have and may exercise all powers granted in this title, so long as the same shall be necessary or desirable for the carrying out of the purposes of this section.
(f) Application of County Charter or other County laws. No provision of the County Charter or other County law regarding the duties, powers, or organization of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority apply to the Authority, unless the County expressly provides by law that the Charter provision or law applies to the Authority.
(g) Conveyance of title. The County Executive with the approval of the County Council is authorized and empowered to convey to the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority the County's title to any lands, streets, alleys, buildings, facilities, or other public places.
(h) Advancement or assignment of rates, rentals, fees, or charges. The County Executive with the approval of the County Council is authorized and empowered to advance or assign to the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority any rates, rentals, fees, or charges now being or hereinafter received by the County, such advance or assignment to be made for the purpose of providing additional security for any bonds to be issued by the Authority or for such other purposes as may be agreed between the Authority and the County.
(i) Advance of funds.
(1) The County Council is authorized and empowered to advance to the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority from the general funds of the County, sums to be used by the Authority to defray expenses for investigation, engineering and architectural studies, opinions, and compensation of employees and counsel which may be incurred prior to sale of its revenue bonds.
(2) Advances shall be repaid out of the first proceeds of the sale of revenue bonds by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority following any such advance.
(3) The advances may be made in accordance with subsection (k).
(j) Issuance of revenue bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness. The Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County may issue revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness on behalf of the County for public recreational purposes of the Authority.
(k) Revenue bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness generally.
(1) The revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued under the provisions of this section may not be deemed to constitute a debt of the County or a pledge of the faith and credit of the County or of the State of Maryland or any political subdivision of the State of Maryland.
(2) The revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness shall be payable from the funds of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority provided from revenues of the project or projects of the Authority.
(3) All revenue bonds shall contain a statement on their face to the effect that the full faith and credit of the State, County, or any other political subdivision of the State is not pledged to pay bonds or the interest thereon.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (k)(5), the issuance of the revenue bonds, certificates, or other evidences of indebtedness under the provisions of this section may not directly, indirectly, or contingently obligate the County to levy or pledge any form of taxation or any appropriation for their payment.
(5) The County Executive, with the approval of the County Council, may collaterally agree to provide sufficient moneys from the general fund of the County to pay any deficiency in the debt service requirements of bonds for any year in which there is a deficit.
(6) An advance of moneys from the general fund of the County shall be repaid from the receipts, rentals, or revenues of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority in the next succeeding year in which such receipts, rentals, or revenues exceed debt service requirements and operating expenses.
(7) An advance of moneys from the general fund of the County under any agreement or agreements may not exceed and shall be limited and restricted to a maximum amount established by local legislation, or in the absence of local legislation, a maximum payment by the County of $25,000 for any one fiscal year.
(l) Revenue bonds as security.
(1) Revenue bonds issued by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority authorized by this section are hereby made securities in which all public officers and public agencies of the State and its political subdivisions, and all banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, investment companies, and others carrying on a banking business, all insurance companies and insurance associations and others carrying on a banking business, all administrators, executors, guardians, trustees and other fiduciaries, and all other persons may legally and properly invest funds, including capital, in their control or belonging to them.
(2) Revenue bonds issued by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority are hereby made securities which may properly and legally be deposited with and received by any State or municipal officer or any agency or political subdivision of the State for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds or other obligations of the State is now or may hereafter be authorized by law.
(m) Tax exemption. The tax exempt bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority, their transfer, the interest payable on them, and any income derived from them, including any profit realized in their sale or exchange, shall be exempt at all times from taxation by the State, or by any of its counties, municipal corporations, or public agencies of any kind.
(n) State Code exemption. The bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County shall be exempt from the provisions of Local Government Article, §§ 19-201, 19-205, 19-206, and 19-211 et seq., of the State Code, or any successor provision.
(o) Acquisition of property. The Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County may acquire real and personal property and interests in real and personal property within or outside of the County and may pledge, mortgage, encumber, sell, lease, transfer, or convey any interest in its real and personal property to the County or any person.
(p) Earnings. Earnings of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County may not inure to the benefit of private persons.
(q) Dissolution of Authority. In the event of dissolution of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County, the title to all property financed by the proceeds of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued by the Authority shall revert to the County.
(r) Intent. It is the intent of this section that the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority established by the County be a "constituted authority" within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and the relevant regulations, rulings, and procedures. The powers of the Recreational Facilities Revenue Authority shall be construed to give effect to this intent.
(1985 Code, Art. 2, § 11-101) (Bill No. 28-97)
State Code reference – 1996 Md. Laws, Ch. 302, § 1.