A. 1. A transportation district may issue bonds or other interest-bearing obligations, as provided in this chapter, for any of its purposes and pay the principal and interest thereon from any of its funds, including any moneys paid to or otherwise received by the district pursuant to any law enacted or any contract or agreement or any grant, loan, or contribution authorized by this chapter. For the purposes of this chapter, bonds include bonds, notes, and other interest-bearing obligations, including notes issued in anticipation of the sale and issuance of bonds.

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2. Neither the members of a transportation district nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the bonds by reason of the issuance thereof. The bonds and other obligations of a district (and such bonds and obligations shall so state on their face) shall not be a debt of the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and only the district shall be liable thereon. The bonds shall not constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any debt limitation or restriction except as provided under this section.

B. 1. Bonds of a transportation district shall be authorized by resolution, may be issued in one or more series, shall be dated, shall mature at such times not exceeding 40 years from their dates, shall bear interest at rates determined by the commission, and may be made redeemable before maturity, at the option of the commission at such price or prices and under such terms as the commission fixes prior to issuing the bonds. The commission shall determine the form of the bonds, including any interest coupons to be attached and the manner of execution of the bonds, and shall fix the denominations of the bonds and the places of payment of principal and interest, which may be at any bank or trust company within or outside the Commonwealth. If any officer whose signature or facsimile signature appears on any bonds or coupons ceases to be such officer before delivery of such bond, such signature or facsimile shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if he had remained in office until such delivery. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article or any recitals in any bonds issued under the provisions of this article, all such bonds shall be negotiable instruments under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bonds may be issued in coupon or registered form or both, as the commission may determine, and provision may be made for the registration of any coupon bonds as to principal alone and also as to both principal and interest, and for the reconversion into coupon bonds of any bonds registered as to both principal and interest. The transportation district may sell such bonds in such manner, either at public or private sale, and for such price as it may determine to be for the best interests of the district. A transportation district is authorized to enter into indentures or agreements with respect to all such matters, and such indentures or agreements may contain such other provisions as the commission may deem reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders. The resolution may provide that the bonds shall be payable from and secured by all or any part of the revenues, moneys, or funds of the district as specified therein. Such pledge shall be valid and binding from the time the pledge is made, and such revenues, moneys, and funds so pledged and thereafter received by the district shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act. 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 district, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Neither the resolution nor any trust indenture by which a pledge is created need be filed or recorded except in the records of the district. All expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of such indentures or agreements may be treated as a purpose of the transportation district. A transportation district may issue refunding bonds for the purpose of redeeming or retiring any bonds before or at maturity, including the payment of any premium, accrued interest, and costs or expenses thereof.

2. Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds a transportation district may, under like restrictions, issue interim receipts or temporary bonds, with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive bonds when such bonds have been executed and are available for delivery. A transportation district may also provide for the replacement of any bonds that have been mutilated, destroyed, or lost.

3. Bonds may be issued pursuant to this article without obtaining the consent of any commission, board, bureau, or agency of the Commonwealth or of any governmental subdivision, and without any referendum, other proceedings, or the happening of other conditions except for those proceedings or conditions that are specifically required by this article.

C. Any holder of bonds, notes, certificates, or other evidence of borrowing issued under this article or of any of the coupons appertaining thereto, and the trustee under any trust indenture or agreement, except to the extent of the rights given in this article may be restricted by such trust indenture or agreement, may, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, injunction, mandamus, or other proceedings, protect and enforce any and all rights under the laws of the Commonwealth or granted by this article or under such trust indenture or agreement or the resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds, notes, or certificates, and may enforce and compel the performance of all duties required by this article or by such trust indenture or agreement or resolution to be performed by the transportation district or by any officer or agent thereof.

D. The exercise of the powers granted by this article shall be in all respects for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, for the promotion of their safety, health, welfare, convenience, and prosperity, and any facility or service that a transportation district is authorized to provide will constitute the performance of an essential governmental function. The bonds of a district are declared to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and their transfer and the income therefrom, including any profit made on the sale thereof, shall at all times be free and exempt from taxation by the Commonwealth and by any governmental subdivision thereof.

E. Bonds issued by a transportation district under this article are securities in which all public officers and public bodies of the Commonwealth and its governmental subdivisions and all insurance companies, trust companies, banks, banking associations, investment companies, executors, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries may properly and legally invest funds, including capital in their control or belonging to them. Such bonds are securities that may properly and legally be deposited with and received by any state or local officer or any agency or governmental subdivision of the Commonwealth for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds or obligations is now or may hereafter be authorized by law.

1968, c. 551, § 15.1-1358.2; 1972, c. 791; 1997, c. 587, § 15.1-4519; 2014, c. 805.