(A) Subject to divisions (B) through (E) of this section, the County Commissioners by resolution may:
(1) Enter into an agreement to finance the purchase of real property purchased by the county for any public purpose through a financial institution or with a person selling the property at an interest rate and under terms and conditions that the County Commissioners deem in the best interest of the county; and
(2) Enter into an agreement to finance the planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, or capital equipping of any building for any public purpose through a financial institutional at an interest rate and under the terms and conditions that the County Commissioners deem in the best interest of the county; and
(3) Secure the financing under divisions (1) or (2) above through a mortgage or other instrument under terms that the County Commissioners deem appropriate.
(B) (1) The total amount of county debt entered under this section may not exceed $1,500,000 at any point in time.
(2) A financing agreement entered under this section may not extend beyond a 20-year period and shall reserve to the county the right to prepay the debt at any time at the option of the County Commissioners without any penalty.
(C) In any fiscal year in which debt under this section is outstanding, the County Commissioners shall levy ad valorem taxes on the assessable property in the county at a rate and amount sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal and interest under any financing agreement entered under this section as it becomes due.
(D) Before the County Commissioners adopt a resolution under this section:
(1) The County Commissioners shall compare the cost of the financing based on documented proposals from at least 2 financial institutions; and
(2) The proposed financing agreement and any related documents shall be reviewed by the attorney for the County Commissioners for legal sufficiency.
(E) The County Commissioners may adopt a resolution under this section only at a regular session of the County Commissioners held no sooner than 10 days after notice of the proposed financing and the time at which the County Commissioners are to consider the financing is published in at least one newspaper regularly available in the county.
(1986 Code, § 20-16.2) (1997, Ch. 24; Am. by Md. S.B. 702, passed 3-17-1998)