00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 23(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to bonds of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority; relating to 02 reserve funds of the authority; relating to taxes and assessments on a person that is a 03 party to an agreement with the authority; and establishing the Knik Arm Crossing 04 fund." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. AS 19.75.211(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 07 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority may borrow 08 money and issue and refund bonds on which the principal and interest are paid out of 09 and secured by 10 (1) the gross revenue derived by the authority from the ownership, use, 11 and operation of its toll facilities, including money derived from the fees, rents, tolls, 12 rates, charges, and other revenue of the authority under this chapter; 13 (2) revenue received by a private person or enterprise that has entered 14 into a public-private partnership agreement with the authority; or 01 (3) any other revenue or money that the legislature has appropriated 02 for that purpose, except a state tax or license. 03  * Sec. 2. AS 19.75.211(c) is amended to read: 04 (c) The authority may issue bonds in an aggregate amount not to exceed 05 $600,000,000 [$500,000,000], plus the cost of issuance. 06  * Sec. 3. AS 19.75.211 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 07 (e) Before issuing bonds for the Knik Arm bridge under this section, the 08 authority shall submit to the state bond committee a description of the bond issue, a 09 copy of the resolution of the board of directors of the authority supporting the bond 10 issue, a report setting out the sources and amounts of revenue that will be used for 11 payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds and the effect the issuance of the 12 bonds by the authority would have on the ability of the state or political subdivision of 13 the state to market bonds, and a preliminary prospectus, offering circular, or official 14 statement relating to the bond issue. Bonds may not be issued unless the state bond 15 committee finds, based on the information submitted by the authority under this 16 section and other information that is reasonably available to or requested by the 17 committee, that either the Knik Arm bridge revenue and other revenue available to the 18 authority or the revenue of the private person or enterprise under a public-private 19 partnership agreement entered into by the authority under AS 19.75.111(a) can be 20 reasonably expected to be adequate for payment of the principal of and interest on the 21 bonds to be issued and that issuance of the bonds by the authority would not be 22 expected adversely to affect the ability of the state or its political subdivisions to 23 market bonds. 24  * Sec. 4. AS 19.75.221(h) is amended to read: 25 (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority may establish 26 other funds and reserves as the board of directors may determine reasonable and 27 prudent for the issuance of bonds or for the conduct of the business and affairs of the 28 authority. The interest earned on or profit derived from these funds and reserves shall 29 be the property of the authority. Deposits made into a reserve fund established  30 under this section must include  31 (1) revenue derived by the authority from the ownership, use, or  01 operation of toll facilities, including fees, rents, tolls, rates, charges, or other  02 revenue of the authority;  03 (2) money that the legislature has appropriated for that purpose;  04 and  05 (3) other money that may be made available to the authority from  06 other sources.  07  * Sec. 5. AS 19.75.221 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 08 (i) Money in a reserve fund established under (h) of this section 09 (1) shall be used only for 10 (A) the payment of monetary obligations, liabilities, and 11 indebtedness of the authority, including termination payment obligations, 12 under agreements for the financing, design, construction, maintenance, 13 improvement, or operation of facilities, properties, or projects of the authority; 14 (B) the performance of the authority's statutory functions, 15 including the authority's overhead and administrative costs and working 16 capital; and 17 (C) planning, permitting, design, acquisition, construction, 18 maintenance, improvement, or operation of transportation-related projects, 19 facilities, properties, systems, or equipment of the authority or other public 20 entities, including expansions, extensions, and capacity improvements, eligible 21 under applicable federal and state law to be funded from toll revenue; 22 (2) may not be used for the purpose of planning, permitting, design, 23 acquisition, construction, maintenance, improvement, or operation of projects, 24 facilities, properties, systems, or equipment under (1)(C) of this subsection if the 25 withdrawal would reduce the amount in the reserve fund to less than the reserve fund 26 requirement. 27 (j) Income or interest earned by, or increment to, a reserve fund established 28 under (h) of this section, from the investment of all or part of the fund, may be 29 transferred by the authority to other funds or accounts of the authority if the transfer 30 does not reduce the amount of a reserve fund below the reserve fund requirement. 31 (k) In computing the amount of a reserve fund established under (h) of this 01 section, securities in which all or a portion of the fund is invested shall be valued by a 02 reasonable method established by the authority by resolution or established by the 03 terms of the agreement for which the fund serves as security. Valuation must include 04 the amount of interest earned or accrued as of the date of the valuation. 05 (l) The chair of the board shall annually, not later than December 1, certify in 06 writing to the governor and the legislature the amount, if any, required to restore a 07 reserve fund established under (h) of this section to the reserve fund requirement. The 08 legislature may appropriate to the authority the amount certified by the chair of the 09 board that is needed to restore a reserve fund to the reserve fund requirement. The 10 duty of the chair of the board to report annually to the governor and the legislature 11 terminates upon the cumulative appropriation to the authority, after January 1, 2013, 12 of $1,140,000,000. 13 (m) In this section, "reserve fund requirement" means the amount required to 14 be on deposit in a reserve fund established under (h) of this section as of the date of 15 computation, as determined by resolution of the authority or by the terms of the 16 agreement for which the fund serves as security. 17  * Sec. 6. AS 19.75.261 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 19.75.261. Exemption from taxation. The real and personal property of 19 the authority and its assets, income, and receipts are declared to be the property of a 20 political subdivision of the state and are exempt from all taxes and special assessments 21 of the state or a political subdivision of the state. Notwithstanding any law to the  22 contrary, rights and interests in real and personal property, assets, income, and  23 receipts, including concession, franchise, leasehold, or other real or personal  24 property rights and interests, held by a private person or enterprise under a  25 public-private partnership agreement entered into under this chapter, except any  26 rights and interests of the private person in property serving a business,  27 commercial, or other purpose not necessary to operate the facilities, properties,  28 or projects of the authority, shall be exempt from all ad valorem taxes on real or  29 personal property and special property tax assessments of the state or a political  30 subdivision of the state. All bonds of the authority are declared to be issued by a 31 political subdivision of the state and for an essential public and governmental purpose. 01 The bonds, the interest on the bonds, the income from the bonds and the transfer of the 02 bonds, and all assets, income, and receipts pledged to pay or secure the payment of the 03 bonds or interest on the bonds are, at all times, exempt from taxation by or under the 04 authority of the state, except for inheritance and estate taxes and taxes on transfers by 05 or in contemplation of death. Nothing in this section affects or limits an exemption 06 from license fees, property taxes, or excise, income, or other taxes provided under any 07 other law [, NOR DOES IT CREATE A TAX EXEMPTION WITH RESPECT TO 08 THE INTEREST OF ANY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OR OTHER PERSON, 09 OTHER THAN THE AUTHORITY, IN ANY PROPERTY, ASSETS, INCOME, 10 RECEIPTS, PROJECT, OR LEASE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER FINANCED 11 UNDER THIS CHAPTER]. 12  * Sec. 7. AS 19.75 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 13 Sec. 19.75.345. Knik Arm Crossing fund. (a) The Knik Arm Crossing fund is 14 established as a separate fund in the general fund. The fund consists of 15 (1) money appropriated to the fund by the legislature; 16 (2) gifts, bequests, contributions from other sources, and federal 17 money appropriated to the fund; 18 (3) interest earned on the fund balance and appropriated to the fund; 19 and 20 (4) investments, to be managed by the Department of Revenue, which 21 shall be the fiduciary of the fund under AS 37.10.071. 22 (b) The fund is not a dedicated fund. 23 (c) Money in the fund may be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the 24 authority for the purposes listed in this section. 25 (d) On a date determined by the authority, but not before the board of directors 26 of the authority executes a public-private partnership agreement under 27 AS 19.75.111(a)(5)(B) for design, construction, and maintenance of the Knik Arm 28 Crossing, the Department of Revenue shall transfer money from the fund to the 29 authority in an amount necessary to meet the reserve fund requirement. The authority 30 shall deposit the money into the reserve fund established in AS 19.75.221(h).