(a) Establishment. The governing body of Anne Arundel County may establish by local legislation a public corporation to be known as the Tipton Airport Authority.
(b) Functions. The Authority may acquire, equip, maintain, and operate an airport or landing field and appurtenant facilities at Fort George G. Meade in Anne Arundel County.
(c) County authority. The County may:
(1) specify the organization and membership of the Authority;
(2) specify the powers to be exercised by the Authority;
(3) provide for the exercise of all power, authority, rights, and obligations required under this title; and
(4) specify any other matters relating to the Authority as the County may deem prudent or necessary.
(d) County duties. The County shall:
(1) establish the Authority as a body corporate and politic, which shall be deemed an instrumentality of the County and a public corporation;
(2) provide that the powers to be exercised by the Authority include all powers necessary or convenient for carrying out the purposes of the Authority; and
(3) provide for the establishment of regulations relating to membership of the Authority.
(e) Issuance of bonds. The County may provide that the Authority, by resolution, may issue negotiable, taxable and tax exempt revenue bonds, revenue refunding bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness in accordance with the following:
(1) the bonds or other evidences of indebtedness shall be used to pay all or part of the cost or purchase price of one or more projects or to refund outstanding revenue bonds that are issued with or without an election referendum, any other proceedings, or the occurrence of any other conditions or events;
(2) any revenue bond proceeds shall become trust funds for the purposes for which the bonds are authorized;
(3) a lien shall be established on the revenue bond proceeds in favor of the holders of any bonds or any trustee until moneys are applied to the purposes for which the bonds are authorized;
(4) the Authority may secure any revenue bond issued to provide funds for any project by a trust indenture between the Authority and a corporate trustee;
(5) the 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 the principal and interest, and any premium on the bonds retired by call or purchase;
(6) except for revenues required to pay the cost of operating and maintaining any project and to 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 to the operation and maintenance of Tipton Airport;
(7) the bondholders have the rights and remedies established by the County;
(8) 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 may be deposited by the Authority in one or more banks or trust companies in one or more special accounts; and
(9) the Authority shall have an annual examination of its books, accounts, and records by a certified public accountant.
(f) Tax exemption. Because the Authority is performing an essential governmental function, it is not subject to 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 the bonds.
(g) Limitation of rights. The State hereby pledges to and agrees with any person, firm, corporation, or federal agency subscribing to or acquiring the revenue bonds to be issued by the 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 title that the Authority shall continue to have and may exercise all powers herein granted, so long as the same shall be necessary or desirable for the carrying out of the purposes of this title.
(h) Issuance of revenue bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness.
(1) The Authority may issue revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness on behalf of the County for the purposes of the Authority.
(2) The revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued under the provisions of this title 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.
(3) The revenue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness shall be payable from the funds of the Authority provided from revenues of the project or projects of the Authority.
(4) 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.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f), 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.
(6) The County Executive may, with the approval of the County Council, collaterally agree to provide sufficient moneys from the general fund of the County to pay any deficiency in the debt service requirement of such bonds for any year in which there is a deficit.
(7) An advance of moneys from the general fund of the County shall be repaid from the receipts, rentals, or revenues of the Authority in the next succeeding year in which such receipts, rentals or revenues exceed debt service requirements and operating expenses.
(8) An advance of moneys from the general fund of the County under any agreement or agreements may not exceed the lesser of $25,000 or an amount established by local law.
(9) (i) Revenue bonds issued by the Authority authorized by this title 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 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.
(ii) Revenue bonds issued by the 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.
(10) The tax exempt bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the 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.
(11) The bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the 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.
(i) County Executive authority.
(1) The County Executive, with the approval of the County Council, may convey to the Authority the County's title to any lands, streets, alleys, buildings, facilities, or other public places.
(2) The County Executive, with the approval of the County Council, may advance or assign to the Authority any rates, rentals, fees, or charges now being or hereinafter received by the County. The advance or assignment shall be made for the purpose of providing additional security for any bonds to be issued by the Authority or for other purposes as agreed between the Authority and the County.
(3) The County Executive, with the approval of the County Council, may advance to the 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 the sale of its revenue bonds. Advances shall be repaid out of the first proceeds of the sale of revenue bonds by the Authority following any such advance.
(4) No provision of the County Charter or other County law applies to the Authority regarding the duties, powers, or organization of the Authority, unless the County expressly provides by law that the Charter provision or law applies to the Authority.
(j) Authority's powers and duties.
(1) The Authority may acquire real and personal property and interests in real and personal property in its own name and may pledge, mortgage, encumber, sell, lease, transfer, or convey any interest in its real and personal property to the County or any person.
(2) The Authority may exercise the powers of eminent domain in order to acquire in its own name aviation easements that the Authority requires for the operation or maintenance of Tipton Airport.
(3) The Authority may not extend any runway to a length in excess of 4,200 feet. The Authority may not extend a runway to a length in excess of 3,000 feet until a public meeting is held in which the proposed extension is explained and for which the comments are accepted and final approval is granted by an affirmative majority vote of the County Council.
(k) Earnings. Earnings of the Authority may not inure to the benefit of private persons. In the event of dissolution of the Authority, 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.
(l) Intent. It is the intent of this title that the Authority 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 Authority shall be construed to give effect to this intent.
(m) Purpose. It is the purpose of this title to provide for the maintenance and operation of Tipton Airport in a prudent and economical manner, and this title shall be liberally construed as giving to the Authority full and complete power reasonably required to give effect to the purposes of the Authority as provided by this title. The provisions of this title are in addition to and not in derogation of any power existing in Anne Arundel County under any constitutional, statutory, or charter provisions.
(1985 Code, Art. 2, § 12-101) (Bill No. 115-97; Bill No. 23-04)
State Code reference – 1997 Md. Laws, Ch. 539, § 1.
Editor's notes –
Bill No. 115-97, § 1, cited one section of the 1997 Md. Laws to be included in this section. At the request of the County, the entire enabling language of 1997 Md. Laws, Ch. 539, § 1, has been included in this section.
House Bill 262, effective October 1, 2009, amended subsection (j) by increasing the maximum runway length from 4,000 feet to 4,200 feet.
Bill No. 115-97, § 1, cited one section of the 1997 Md. Laws to be included in this section. At the request of the County, the entire enabling language of 1997 Md. Laws, Ch. 539, § 1, has been included in this section.
House Bill 262, effective October 1, 2009, amended subsection (j) by increasing the maximum runway length from 4,000 feet to 4,200 feet.