Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

A.  The authority is authorized and empowered to issue revenue bonds for the financing of all or any part of the costs of any economic development project and any expenses related thereto or to such financing and to pledge for the payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on such revenue bonds the income and revenues derived or to be derived by the authority from financing agreements.  The authority is further authorized and empowered to issue its revenue bonds in accordance with this Section to refund in whole or in part at any time revenue bonds theretofore issued by the authority pursuant to this Section.

B.(1)  The authority shall authorize revenue bonds by one or more bond resolutions adopted by a majority of its commissioners.  Any bond resolution shall be published one time in the official journal of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana; however, it shall not be necessary to publish any exhibits to such bond resolution if the same are available for public inspection and such fact is stated in the publication.  For thirty days after the date of publication, any person in interest may contest the legality of the bond resolution, any provision of the revenue bonds to be issued pursuant to it, the provisions therein made for the security and payment of the revenue bonds, and the validity of all other provisions and proceedings relating to the authorization and issuance of such bonds.  After that time, no person may contest the regularity, formality, legality, or effectiveness of the bond resolution, any provisions of the revenue bonds to be issued pursuant to it, the provisions for the security and payment of the revenue bonds, and the validity of all other provisions and proceedings relating to their authorization and issuance, for any cause whatever.  Thereafter, it shall be conclusively presumed that the revenue bonds are legal and that every legal requirement for the issuance of the revenue bonds has been complied with.  No court shall have authority to inquire into any of these matters after the thirty days.

(2)  The bond resolution shall authorize the participation of the authority in the financing of the economic development project and, in addition, may contain provisions which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of such issue of revenue bonds, as to:

(a)  Pledging all or any part of revenues received or to be received, and agreements to secure the payment of such issue of revenue bonds.

(b)  Rates, fees, rentals, or other charges to be established, maintained, and collected, and the use and disposition of revenues, gifts, and funds received or to be received.

(c)  The setting aside of reserves or bond retirement funds and the regulation and disposition thereof.

(d)  The custody, collection, securing, investment, and payment of any monies held in trust or otherwise for the payment of revenue bonds or in any way to secure the payment of revenue bonds, including the establishment and maintenance of revenue, reserve, or other funds as trust funds.

(e)  Limitations or restrictions on the purposes to which the proceeds of sale of any revenue bonds then or thereafter to be issued may be applied.

(f)  Limitations or restrictions on the issuance of additional revenue bonds; the terms upon which additional revenue bonds may be issued and secured, or the refunding of outstanding or other revenue bonds, or both.

(g)  Vesting in one or more trustees or fiscal agents such property, rights, powers, and duties in trust as the authority may determine.

(h)  The acquisition and disposition of property.

(i)  The rights and remedies available to the bondholders in the event of default.

(j)  Provisions for insurance and for accounting reports and the inspection and audit thereof.

(k)  The replacement of mutilated, destroyed, stolen, or lost revenue bonds.

(l)  Any other matters of like or different character which in any way affect the security or protection of the revenue bonds.

(3)  All revenue bonds issued pursuant to a bond resolution shall be equally and ratably secured by a pledge, charge, and lien upon revenues provided for in the bond resolution.  Any pledge made by the authority pursuant to this Section shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made.  The revenues, securities, and other monies so pledged and then held or thereafter received by the authority or any fiduciary shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of any such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the authority, whether or not such parties have notice thereof.

(4)  The bond resolution by which a pledge is created need not be filed or recorded except in the official minutes of the authority and of the State Bond Commission.

(5)  The revenue bonds shall be of such series, bear such date or dates, be serial or term bonds, mature at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates payable on such date or dates, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or fully registered without coupons, carry such registration and exchangeability privilege, be payable in such medium of payment and at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption, and be entitled to such priorities on the revenues of the authority as the bond resolution may provide.

(6)  The revenue bonds shall be sold by the authority in such manner and at such prices, at public or private sale, as it may determine. If the authority sells the bonds at public sale, notice of such sale upon sealed proposals shall be published at least once not less than seven days prior to the date of such sale in a publication carrying municipal bond notices and devoted primarily to financial news or to the subject of state and municipal bonds, published in the city of New York, New York, and in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

(7)  The revenue bonds and coupons attached thereto shall be executed in the name of the authority by the manual or facsimile signatures of such official or officials as may be designated in the bond resolution.  If any officer whose manual or facsimile signature appears on any revenue bond or coupon ceases to be such officer before the delivery of such revenue bonds, such signature nevertheless shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes as if he had remained in office until such delivery.  The bond resolution may provide for authentication of the revenue bonds by the trustees or fiscal agent thereunder.

C.  Pending the preparation of definitive revenue bonds, the authority may issue interim receipts or temporary revenue bonds, with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive revenue bonds when such bonds have been executed and are available for delivery.

D.  No commissioner or officer of the authority, and no officer or member of the city of New Orleans or its governing body, or any person executing such revenue bonds shall be liable personally on such revenue bonds.

E.  The authority shall have power to purchase its revenue bonds out of any funds available therefor under the bond resolution. It may hold, cancel, or resell such bonds, subject to and in accordance with agreements with holders of its revenue bonds.

F.  All revenue bonds and interest coupons appertaining thereto issued pursuant to this Section shall be and are hereby made negotiable instruments within the meaning of and for all of the purposes of the negotiable instruments law of Louisiana, subject only to the provisions of the revenue bonds for registration.

G.  All revenue bonds and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation by the state of Louisiana or any political subdivision thereof.  The revenue bonds shall be legal and authorized investments for banks, savings banks, insurance companies, homestead and building and loan associations, trustees, and other fiduciaries and may be used for deposit with any officer, board, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, in any case where, by present or future laws, deposit or security is required.

H.  The holders of any revenue bonds issued hereunder shall have such rights and remedies as may be provided in the bond resolution, including, but not by way of limitation, acceleration of payment, appointment of a trustee for bondholders, appointment of a receiver for the redevelopment project or the revenue bond program financed with the proceeds of the revenue bonds or the revenues from such program, or both, and any other available civil action to compel compliance with the terms and provisions of the revenue bonds and the bond resolution.

I.  The revenue bonds shall be limited obligations of the authority.  The principal of and interest on the revenue bonds shall not be payable from the general funds of the authority nor shall they constitute a pledge, charge, lien, or encumbrance upon any of its property or upon any of its income, receipts, or revenues except the revenues, agreements, and funds pledged under the bond resolution.  Neither the credit nor the taxing power of the city of New Orleans or the state of Louisiana shall be pledged for the payment of such principal or interest, and no holder of revenue bonds shall have the right to compel the exercise of the taxing power by the city of New Orleans or the forfeiture of its property in connection with any default thereon.  Every revenue bond shall recite in substance that the principal of and interest on such bond is payable solely from the revenues pledged to its payment and the authority is not obligated to pay such principal or interest except from such revenues.  The revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this Section shall not constitute a debt of the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans, are not subject to any constitutional or statutory debt limitation or restriction and shall not be subject to the provisions of the charter of the city of New Orleans relating to the authorization, issuance, or sale of bonds, and the state of Louisiana shall not be liable thereon.

J.  Subject to agreements with the holders of revenue bonds, all proceeds of revenue bonds and all revenue pledged under a bond resolution shall be set aside as received and shall be deposited and held in trust by a trustee appointed by the authority in a fund or funds separate and apart from all other funds of the authority.  Subject to the bond resolution, the trustee shall hold the same for the benefit of the holders of the bonds for the application and disposition thereof solely to the respective uses and purposes in such bond resolution.

K.  Without limitation of the powers granted to the authority pursuant to this Section, the authority is specifically authorized and empowered to:

(1)  Lend proceeds of bonds issued pursuant to this Section to an entity or entities for the purpose of such entity or entities making qualified equity investments in a community development entity, provided that the community development entity uses such qualified equity investment to make qualified low-income community investments in qualified active low-income community businesses operating primarily in the city of New Orleans.

(2)  Create, operate, manage, invest in or loan to, and own entities created for the purpose of facilitating economic development projects.

Acts 2006, No. 666, §1, eff. June 29, 2006.