(a) Subject to the conditions, qualifications, and restrictions set forth in subsection (e), the authority shall have the power to borrow money and to issue revenue bonds as evidence of money so borrowed, which bonds shall be payable solely from taxes made payable to the authority by an act of the Legislature heretofore or hereafter adopted and from the revenues of the authority derived from the activities, operations, and enterprises in which the authority is hereby authorized to engage. As security for any money so borrowed, together with interest thereon, and any obligations incurred or assumed, the authority, in its discretion, may mortgage, pledge, or otherwise transfer and convey its real, personal, and mixed property, or any part or parts thereof, whether then owned or thereafter acquired, including any franchises then owned or thereafter acquired, and all or any part of the taxes payable to the authority under any act of the Legislature heretofore or hereafter adopted and all or any part of revenues derived from the activities, operation, and enterprises in which the authority lawfully engages. In the resolution authorizing such revenue bonds or the mortgage given to secure the payment thereof, the authority, in addition to its other powers, shall have the power to agree with the several holders of such bonds and to make, enter into, and perform covenants and agreements as to any of the following:
(1) The custody, security, use, expenditure, or application of the proceeds of the bonds.
(2) The conduct, management, and maintenance of the properties held by the authority or of the activities, operations, and enterprises then or thereafter conducted by the authority.
(3) Insurance of the properties of the authority.
(4) Restrictions on the exercise of the powers of the authority to dispose, or to limit or regulate the use, of all or any part of the properties of the authority.
(5) The payment of the principal of or interest on the bonds, the rank or priority of any such bonds as to any lien or security, or the acceleration of the maturities of any such bonds.
(6) The use and disposition of any moneys of the authority, including taxes payable to the authority under any act of the Legislature heretofore or hereafter adopted and revenues derived or to be derived from the activities, operations, and enterprises of all or any part of the properties of the authority, including any part or parts theretofor constructed or acquired and any parts, extensions, replacements, or improvements thereof thereafter constructed or acquired.
(7) Pledging, setting aside, depositing, or trusteeing all or any part of the revenues or other moneys of the authority to secure the payment of the principal of or interest on the bonds, or the payment of expenses of operation or maintenance of the properties of the authority.
(8) The setting aside of the taxes payable to the authority under any act of the Legislature heretofore or hereafter adopted and/or use of the revenues or the moneys of the authority or reserves and sinking funds, and the source, custody, security, regulation, application, and disposition thereof.
(9) The assumption or payment or discharge of any indebtedness, liens, or other claims relating to any part of the properties of the authority or any obligations constituting, or which may constitute, a lien on such properties or any part thereof.
(10) Limitations on the issuance of additional bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness or upon the incurrence of indebtedness of the authority.
(11) Payment of costs or expenses incident to the enforcement of the bonds or of the provisions of such resolution or mortgage, of any covenant or agreement with the holders of the bonds.
(12) The procedure, if any, by which the terms of any covenant or agreement with, or duty to, the holders of the bonds may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds, the holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which such consent may be given or evidenced.
(13) The terms and conditions upon which the holders of the bonds, or any proportion of them, or any trustees therefor, shall be entitled to the appointment of a receiver by any court of competent jurisdiction, which receiver may enter and take possession of the properties of the authority and operate and maintain the same and prescribe rates, rents, fees, or charges, and collect, receive, and apply all revenue arising from the operation of such properties in the same manner as the authority itself might do.
(14) Any other matter or course of conduct which, by recital in such resolution or mortgage is declared to further secure the payment of the principal of or interest on the bonds.
(b) All such provisions of the resolution or mortgage and of such covenants and agreements, shall constitute valid and legally binding contracts between the authority and the several holders of the bonds, regardless of the time of issuance of such bonds, and shall be enforceable by any such holder or holders by mandamus or other appropriate action, suit, or proceeding at law or in equity in any court of competent jurisdiction. The circuit court, or any other court of competent jurisdiction, shall have authority to appoint a receiver for the properties of the authority, upon the terms and conditions specified in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or in any mortgage securing the payment of the principal and interest thereof. Any mortgage given as security for the payment of the bonds may contain such agreements as the authority shall deem advisable respecting the rights and duties of the parties to such instrument or for the benefit of whom such instrument is made, including the right to foreclose or to take possession without foreclosure. Revenue bonds issued under the authority of this section may be in such form and tenor, may bear such rate or rates of interest, and have such maturities and redemption privileges as the authority shall determine.
(c) Such bonds so issued may thereafter, from time to time, be refunded by the issuance or sale or exchange of refunding bonds at such times and in such forms and of such tenor, maturities, or rate or rates of interest as may be agreed upon by the authority and the holders of the bonds so refunded if such refunding is by exchange, and as may be determined by the authority if such refunding is by sale of refunding bonds. The authority may restrict the source of payment of such bonds and the security given therefor to whatever extent the authority shall deem advisable, but no such bonds shall purport to be effective to impose on the authority or its funds or property, any liability in excess of or inconsistent with the liability authorized to be incurred or assumed by this part, or any liability inconsistent with or prohibited by any provision of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901. Such borrowing may be effected by sale of such bonds at public sale in such manner and from time to time as may be determined by the authority to be most advantageous, and the authority may pay all expenses, premiums, and commissions which the authority may deem necessary and advantageous in connection with any such financing. All such bonds shall be regarded as negotiable instruments. All bonds and interest payable thereon and all instruments executed as security therefor shall be exempt from all taxation under the laws of the State of Alabama. Neither the county nor any municipality of the county shall in any event be liable for any money so borrowed; and no indebtedness of the authority shall ever be held to be an indebtedness of the county or of any municipality of the county. The bonds provided for herein shall be issued in the name of the authority and shall be executed in such name by the chair of the board of directors, attested by the secretary of the board, and thereupon shall be impressed or printed the corporate seal. Coupons attached to the bonds may be executed solely by impressing or printing thereon the facsimile signature of the chair.
(d) The impressing or printing of a facsimile seal of the authority shall be sufficient; but no seal on the coupons shall be required.
(e) The power vested in the authority to pledge taxes required by this part to be paid to the authority or to pledge revenue of the authority shall not be construed as undertaking or purporting to empower the authority to pledge any tax or any revenue if such pledge is prohibited by any provision of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901. It is expressly provided, however, that the authority shall have the power to pledge any tax paid to the authority or revenue of the authority, the pledge of which is authorized by the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.
Last modified: May 3, 2021