(A) Taxing district.
(1) This subchapter creates a special taxing district, including all territory within the municipal corporate boundaries of the town, for the purpose of providing for the collection and disposal of stormwater of the district in a manner that protects the public health and welfare and for the purpose of levying special benefit taxes for purposes of stormwater collection and disposal.
(2) Any area added to the district hereunder is considered to have received a special benefit from the stormwater collection and disposal facilities of the district equal to or greater than the special taxes imposed on the area by this subchapter or any other authority or legislative act in order to pay all or part of the costs of such facilities.
(B) Municipal assessment.
(1) The reasonable cost and value of any service rendered to the town by the stormwater system by furnishing stormwater collection and disposal shall be:
(a) Charged against the town; and
(b) Paid for in monthly installments as the service accrues out of the:
1. Current revenues of the town, collected or in process of collection; and
2. Tax levy of the town made by it to raise money to meet its necessary current expenses.
(2) Compensation for the service provided to the town shall, in the manner prescribed herein, be treated as revenues of the system and paid into the funds created under this subchapter.
(C) Bonding.
(1) The Board shall have the power to issue and sell bonds of the district in the name of the town for the acquisition, construction, alteration, addition, or extension of the stormwater collection and disposal system or for the refunding of any bonds issued by the town.
(2) The bonds of the district are:
(a) A valid claim of the holders only against the bond and interest redemption account and the revenues of the stormwater system;
(b) Exempt from taxation in the state as provided IC 6-8-5, as amended from time to time;
(c) Bonds which may be issued either as registered bonds or as coupon bonds payable to the bearer;
(d) Except as provided in this subchapter or IC 5-1-3, as amended from time to time, bonds which are to be in accordance with IC 5-1-11, as amended from time to time. The registration of bonds does not affect negotiability.
(3) All monies received from bonds issued under this subchapter shall be applied solely to the acquisition, construction, repair, and maintenance of the stormwater system, the cost of the issuance of the bonds, and the creation of any reserve for the bonds.
(4) Any holder of the bonds may bring a civil action to compel performance of all duties required by this subchapter of the Board issuing the bonds or of any officer of the Board, including the following:
(a) Making and collecting reasonable and sufficient user fees lawfully established for service rendered by the stormwater system.
(b) Segregating the income and revenues of the Department.
(c) Applying the respective funds created under this subchapter.
(5) In the event there is any default in the payment of the principal or interest of any of the bonds, a court of competent jurisdiction may:
(a) Appoint an administrator or receiver to administer
the stormwater system on behalf of the town and the bondholders, with power to:
1. Charge and collect user fees lawfully established sufficient to provide for the payment of the operating expenses and also to pay any bonds or obligations outstanding against the stormwater system; and
2. Apply the income and revenues in conformity with the provisions of this subchapter.
(b) Declare the whole amount of the bonds due and payable and direct the sale of the stormwater system.
(D) Taxing district bonds.
(1) In order to procure money to pay for the required property and the acquisition, erection, and construction of the proposed work, and in anticipation of the collection of the special benefit tax, the Board may issue, in the name of the town, special taxing district bonds of the stormwater district. The bonds may not exceed the total estimated cost of the work and property to be acquired as provided for in the resolution, including:
(a) All expenses necessarily incurred for supervision and inspection during the period of construction; and
(b) Expenses actually incurred preliminary to the acquiring of the necessary property, and the construction of the work, including the cost of records, engineering expenses, publication of notices, salaries and other expenses incurred, before and in connection with the acquiring of the property, the letting of the contract, and the sale of bonds.
(2) After adopting a resolution authorizing the bands, the Board shall certify a copy of the resolution to the Clerk-Treasurer, who shall then prepare the bonds. The Town Council, by its designated representative, shall execute the bonds, and the Clerk-Treasurer shall attest the bonds.
(3) The Board may not issue bonds of the stormwater district, payable by a special benefit property tax, when the total of the outstanding bonds of the district that are payable from a special benefit property tax, including the bonds already issued and to be issued, exceeds 8% of the total assessed valuation, after deducting all exemptions, of the property within the district. For purposes of this section, bonds are not considered to be outstanding bonds if the payment has been provided for by an irrevocable deposit in escrow of government obligations sufficient to pay the bonds when due or called for redemption.
(4) The bonds are not a corporate obligation or indebtedness of the town but are an indebtedness of the stormwater district. The bonds and interest are payable:
(a) Out of a special benefit tax levied upon all of the property of the stormwater district; or
(b) By any other means including revenues, cash on hand, and cash in depreciation or reserve accounts.
(5) The bonds must recite the terms upon their face, together with the purpose for which they are issued.
(6) In order to raise the necessary revenues to pay for the bonds issued and the interest on the bonds, the Board:
(a) After approval by the town Council, shall levy a special benefit tax upon all the property of the stormwater district in the amount necessary to meet and pay the principal of the bonds as they severally mature, together with all accruing interest; and
(b) Shall certify the tax levied each year to the fiscal officers of the town and of the county, at the same time the levy of the town is certified.
(7) The tax levied and certified shall be estimated and entered upon the tax duplicate and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as state and county taxes are estimated, entered and enforced.
(8) In fixing the amount of the necessary levy, the Board:
(a) Shall consider the amount of the revenues derived by the Board from the operation of the stormwater system under its jurisdiction above the amount of revenues required to pay the cost of operation and maintenance of the stormwater system; and
(b) May, in lieu of making the levy as described in this section, set aside by resolution a specific amount of the surplus revenues to be collected before maturity of the principal and interest of the bonds payable in the following calendar year.
(9) The special tax collected shall be deposited in the bond and interest redemption account.
(10) The Board may not issue any bonds authorized by this subchapter until it has secured the approval for the issuance of the bonds from the Town Council.
(11) IC 6-1.1-20, as amended from time to time, applies to the issuance of bonds under this subchapter which are or may be payable from the special benefit property tax.
(12) Revenues received by the Department may be used to pay for bonds issued to acquire, construct, install, operate, and maintain facilities and land for stormwater collection and disposal systems.
(13) In the event there are bonds outstanding for which user fees were pledged, the Board may not rescind user fees or reduce them below a rate that would produce 125% of the highest annual debt service on the bonds issued under this subchapter to their final maturity, based on an average of the immediately preceding three years of user fee collections. In the event the user fees have been levied for the preceding three years, the Board may not reduce user fees below a rate that would produce 125% of the highest debt service, based upon a study by a qualified public accountant or financial adviser.
(14) With respect to bonds for which a pledge has been made under division (D)(11) of this section, the Indiana General Assembly covenants with the holders of these bonds that:
(a) This statutory provision will not be repealed or amended in a manner that will adversely affect the imposition or collection of the user fees under this subchapter; and
(b) This statutory provision will not be amended in a manner that will change the purpose for which revenues from the user fees imposed under this subchapter may be used, as long as those bonds are outstanding.
(Ord. 560, passed 9-1-92)