Article 4. Bonds And Notes of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 12. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 4.

The commission may issue bonds for purposes authorized by this chapter, and to fund or refund them, pursuant to this chapter.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
  (a) The commission and its revenues are exempt from all taxes on, or measured by, income.
  (b) Bonds issued by the commission are exempt from all property taxation, and the interest on the bonds are exempt from all taxes on income.
  (c) All property owned by the commission is exempt from property taxes, assessments, and other public charges secured by liens.

The commission may from time to time issue or renew notes in anticipation of the sale of bonds or otherwise. The commission may also issue notes partly to renew notes or to discharge any other outstanding obligation and partly for any other purpose. Notes may be authorized, sold, and delivered in the same manner as bonds. Any resolution of the commission authorizing notes may contain any provision which the commission may include in any resolution authorizing bonds, and the commission may include in the notes any terms, covenants, or conditions which it may include in bonds. Notes shall be paid from any revenues of the commission or other money available therefor and not otherwise pledged, or from the proceeds of the sale of the bonds in anticipation of which the notes were issued, subject to any contractual rights of the holders of any outstanding notes or other obligations.

(a) Except as provided in this subdivision and as may be otherwise expressly provided by the commission, all issues of its bonds are special obligations of the commission payable from any revenues or money of the commission available therefor and not otherwise pledged, subject only to any agreement with the holders of particular bonds pledging any particular revenues or money. However, the commission may not pledge revenues or money from the following sources: federal funds provided under Sections 1602 and 1607a of Title 49 of the United States Code, funds allocated pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 99312 from a state transit assistance fund created pursuant to Section 99313.6, funds allocated from the Transportation Planning and Development Account in the State Transportation Fund, funds subject to Article XIX of the California Constitution, and funds provided pursuant to the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10).
  (b) The commission may not pledge any of its revenue derived from the retail transactions and use tax which have been allocated to a city pursuant to the ordinance adopted pursuant to Section 130350, unless the city has authorized the pledging of its allocation.
  (c) Notwithstanding that the bonds may be payable from a special fund, they are for all purposes negotiable instruments, subject only to the provisions of the bonds for registration.

(a) The bonds may be issued as serial bonds or as term bonds, or the commission, in its discretion, may issue bonds of both types.
  (b) The bonds shall be authorized by resolution of the commission and shall bear the date or dates, mature at the time or times, not exceeding 50 years from their respective dates, bear interest at the rate or rates, be payable at the time or times, be in the denominations, be in registered form, carry the registration privileges, be executed in the manner, be payable in lawful money of the United States of America at the place or places, and be subject to the terms of redemption, as the resolution or resolutions may provide.
  (c) The bonds may be sold at public or private sale, and for the price or prices and on the terms and conditions as determined by the commission.
  (d) Pending preparation of the bonds, the commission may issue interim receipts, certificates, or temporary bonds which shall be exchanged for the bonds. The commission may sell any bonds at a price below the par value thereof without any limitation on price.

(a) At times that the commission desires to issue bonds, it shall adopt a resolution specifying the total amount of bonds proposed to be issued.
  (b) Any resolution authorizing any bonds, or any issue of bonds, shall, to the extent applicable, contain provisions, which are a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds to be authorized, as to the following:
  (1) Pledging all or any part of the revenues of any project or any revenue-producing contract or contracts made by the commission with any individual, partnership, corporation, or association or other body, public or private, or other money of the commission, to secure the payment of the bonds or of any particular issue of bonds, subject to any agreement with bondholders that may then exist.
  (2) The rentals, fees, fares, purchase payments, and other charges to be charged, and the amounts to be raised in each year thereby, and the use and disposition of the revenues.
  (3) The setting aside of reserves or sinking funds, and the regulation and disposition thereof.
  (4) Limitations on the purpose to which the proceeds of sale of any issue of bonds then or thereafter to be issued may be applied, and pledging the proceeds to secure the payment of the bonds or any issue of the bonds.
  (5) Limitations on the issuance of additional bonds, the terms upon which additional bonds may be issued and secured and the refunding of outstanding bonds.
  (6) The procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds that the holders of which are required to consent thereto, and the manner in which the consent may be given.
  (7) Limitations on expenditures for operating, administrative, or other expenses of the commission.
  (8) Defining the acts or omissions to act which constitute a default in the duties of the commission to bondholders of the commission's obligations, and providing the rights and remedies of the bondholders in the event of a default.
  (9) The mortgaging of any project, or any part thereof, for the purpose of securing the bondholders.
  (10) The terms and conditions of the sale, whether public or private, including, but not limited to, the price, interest rates, terms to maturity, security arrangements, and any other terms and conditions which the commission deems necessary under the circumstances.

Neither the members of the commission, nor any person executing the bonds, are liable personally on the bonds, or are subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance thereof.

The commission may, from any funds available therefor, purchase its bonds. The commission may hold, pledge, cancel, or resell the bonds, subject to, and in accordance with, agreements with the bondholders.

(a) At the discretion of the commission, any bonds issued under this chapter may be secured by a trust agreement by and between the commission and a trustee, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the state.
  (b) The trust agreement, or the resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds, may pledge or assign the revenues to be received or the proceeds of any contract pledged and may convey or mortgage the project, or any portion thereof, to be financed out of the proceeds of the bonds. The trust agreement, or resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds, may contain provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders as may be reasonable and proper and not in violation of law, including particularly provisions specifically authorized to be included in any resolution of the commission authorizing bonds.
  (c) Any bank or trust company which does business under the laws of the United States or of this state, which has its principal place of business in this state, and which may act as depository of the proceeds of bonds or of revenues or other moneys may furnish indemnifying bonds or pledge securities as may be required by the commission.
  (d) Any trust agreement may set forth the rights and remedies of the bondholders and of the trustee, and may restrict the individual right of action by bondholders. In addition, any trust agreement or resolution may contain other provisions that the commission may deem reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders.

The commission shall take no action which will materially impair the security pledged for any bonds which it has previously issued.

All expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of the trust agreement or resolution may be treated as a part of the cost of the operation of a project.

(a) Bonds issued under this chapter do not constitute a debt or liability of the state or of any other public agency, other than the commission, or a pledge of the faith and credit of the state or of any other public agency, other than the commission, but shall be payable solely from the funds provided therefor. All the bonds shall contain on the face thereof a statement to the following effect:

"Neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State of California or any public agency, other than the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, is pledged to the payment of the principal of, or interest on, this bond."
  (b) The issuance of bonds under this chapter does not in any manner obligate the state or any other public agency thereof to levy, or to pledge any form of, taxation therefor or to make any appropriation for their payment.

The commission may provide for the issuance of bonds of the commission for the purpose of refunding any bond then outstanding, including the payment of any redemption premium thereon and any interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or subsequent date of redemption, purchase, or maturity of the bonds and, if deemed advisable by the commission, for the additional purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of constructing and acquiring additions, improvements, extensions, or enlargements of a project or any portion thereof. The commission may issue refunding bonds to refinance its indebtedness only if the commission finds that the refunding is in the public interest due to the terms or conditions of the refunding, including, without limitation, lower net interest cost, maturity or maturities, call provisions, or similar terms and conditions.

(a) The proceeds of any bonds issued for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds may, in the discretion of the commission, be applied to the purchase or retirement at maturity or redemption of outstanding bonds either on their earliest or any subsequent redemption date or upon the purchase or retirement at the maturity thereof and may, pending such application, be placed in escrow to be applied to the purchase or retirement at maturity or redemption on the date as may be determined by the commission.
  (b) Pending that use, the escrowed proceeds may be invested and reinvested by the commission or its trustee in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States of America, or in certificates of deposit or time deposits secured by obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States of America, maturing at a time or times appropriate to ensure the prompt payment of principal, interest, and redemption premium, if any, of the outstanding bonds to be so refunded. The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investment may also be applied to the payment of the outstanding bonds to be so refunded. After the terms of the escrow have been fully satisfied and carried out, any balance of the proceeds and interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investments thereof may be returned to the commission for use by it in any lawful manner.

The proceeds of any bonds issued for the additional purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of constructing and acquiring additions, improvements, extensions, or enlargements of a project may be invested and reinvested by the commission or its trustee in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States of America, or in certificates of deposit or time deposits secured by obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States of America, maturing not later than the time or times when the proceeds will be needed for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost. The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investment may be applied to the payment of all or any part of the cost or may be used by the commission in any lawful manner.

Bonds issued pursuant to Section 130542 are subject to this chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as other bonds issued pursuant to this chapter.

The bonds issued pursuant to this chapter are legal investments for all trust funds, the funds of all insurance companies, commercial or savings banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, and investment companies, for executors, administrators, guardians, conservators, trustees, and other fiduciaries, for state school funds, and for any funds which may be invested in county, municipal, or school district bonds. The bonds are securities which may properly and legally be deposited with, and received by, any state or municipal officer or any public agency for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds or obligations of the state is now, or may hereafter be, authorized by law, including deposits to secure public funds.