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This entry was published on 2014-09-22
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SECTION 13
Refund of state debts
Constitution (CNS) CHAPTER , ARTICLE VII
§ 13. The legislature may provide means and authority whereby any
state debt or debts, or any portion or combination thereof, may be
refunded in accordance with the following provisions:

1. State debts may be refunded at any time after they are incurred
provided that the state will achieve a debt service savings on a present
value basis as a result of the refunding transaction, and further
provided that no maturity shall be called for redemption unless the
privilege to pay prior to the maturity date was reserved to the state.
The legislature may provide for the method of computation of present
value for such purpose.

2. In no event shall refunding obligations be issued in an amount
exceeding that necessary to provide sufficient funds to accomplish the
refunding of the obligations to be refunded including paying all costs
and expenses related to the refunding transaction and, in no event,
shall the proceeds of refunding obligations be applied to any purpose
other than accomplishing the refunding of the debt to be refunded and
paying costs and expenses related to the refunding.

3. Proceeds of refunding obligations shall be deposited in escrow
funds which shall be maintained and managed by the state comptroller or
by an agent or trustee designated by the state comptroller and no
legislative appropriation shall be required for disbursement of money,
or income earned thereon, from such escrow funds for the purposes
enumerated in this section.

4. Refunding obligations may be refunded pursuant to this section.

5. Refunding obligations shall either be paid in annual installments
or annual contributions shall be made to a sinking fund in amounts
sufficient to retire the refunding obligations at their maturity. No
annual installments or contributions of principal need be made with
respect to all or any portion of an issue of refunding obligations in
years when debt service on such refunding obligations or portion thereof
is paid or contributed entirely from an escrow fund created pursuant to
subdivision 3 of this section or in years when no installments or
contributions would have been due on the obligations to be refunded. So
long as any of the refunding obligations remain outstanding,
installments or contributions shall be made in any years that
installments or contributions would have been due on the obligations to
be refunded.

6. In no event shall the last annual installment or contribution on
any portion of refunding debt, including refunding obligations issued to
refund other refunding obligations, be made after the termination of the
period of probable life of the projects financed with the proceeds of
the relevant portion of the debt to be refunded, or any debt previously
refunded with the refunding obligations to be refunded, determined as of
the date of issuance of the original obligations pursuant to section 12
of this article to finance such projects, or forty years from such date,
if earlier; provided, however, that in lieu of the foregoing, an entire
refunding issue or portion thereof may be structured to mature over the
remaining weighted average useful life of all projects financed with the
obligations being refunded.

7. Subject to the provisions of subdivision 5 of this section, each
annual installment or contribution of principal of refunding obligations
shall be equal to the amount that would be required by subdivision 1 of
section 12 of this article if such installments or contributions were
required to be made from the year that the next installment or
contribution would have been due on the obligations to be refunded, if
they had not been refunded, until the final maturity of the refunding
obligations but excluding any year in which no installment or
contribution would have been due on the obligations to be refunded or,
in the alternative, the total payments of principal and interest on the
refunding bonds shall be less in each year to their final maturity than
the total payments of principal and interest on the bonds to be refunded
in each such year.

8. The provisions of subdivision 3 and subdivisions 7 through 9 of
section 12 of this article shall apply to sinking funds created pursuant
to this section for the payment at maturity of refunding obligations.