Texas Local Government Code 271.045 – Purposes for Which Certificates May Be Authorized
(a) The governing body of an issuer may authorize certificates to pay a contractual obligation to be incurred for the:
(1) construction of any public work;
(2) purchase of materials, supplies, equipment, machinery, buildings, land, and rights-of-way for authorized needs and purposes; or
(3) payment of contractual obligations for professional services, including services provided by tax appraisers, engineers, architects, attorneys, map makers, auditors, financial advisors, and fiscal agents.
(b) If necessary because of change orders, certificates may be authorized in an amount not to exceed 25 percent of a contractual obligation incurred for the construction of public works, but certificates may be delivered only in the amount necessary to discharge contractual obligations.
Terms Used In Texas Local Government Code 271.045
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Municipality: means a general-law municipality, home-rule municipality, or special-law municipality. See Texas Local Government Code 1.005
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) The governing body of a municipality may issue certificates of obligation to pay all or part of a municipality’s obligations incurred by contract for interests in and rights to water or sewer treatment capacity in connection with a water supply and transmission project or sewer treatment or collection project to be constructed in whole or in part on behalf of the municipality by another governmental entity or political subdivision pursuant to a written agreement expressly authorized under § 552.014 of this code or § 791.026, Government Code.
(d) In exercising its authority to issue certificates of obligation for the purposes specified in Subsection (c), the municipality must limit the principal amount of certificates to be issued for the purpose of funding its contractual obligations to an amount equal to (i) the aggregate of the contractual payments or the total costs allocated or attributed, under generally accepted accounting principles, to the capital costs of the project, as opposed to any maintenance or operating costs to be paid under the written agreement or (ii) the total cost of the project multiplied by the percentage of the nameplate capacity of the project acquired or conveyed by the written agreement to the municipality, whichever limitation is applicable to the contractual interests or rights being conveyed or identified in the written agreement.
(e) Work that is directly attributable under generally accepted accounting principles to the costs of the project and that is performed by employees of the issuer may be allocated or attributed to the capital costs of the project.