SB 80: "An Act relating to the authority and obligations of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, to bonds of the authority, and to reserve funds of the authority; authorizing the state to provide support for certain obligations of the authority; relating to taxes and assessments on a person that is a party to an agreement with the authority; and establishing the Knik Arm Crossing fund."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 80 01 "An Act relating to the authority and obligations of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll 02 Authority, to bonds of the authority, and to reserve funds of the authority; authorizing 03 the state to provide support for certain obligations of the authority; relating to taxes and 04 assessments on a person that is a party to an agreement with the authority; and 05 establishing the Knik Arm Crossing fund." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 19.75.111(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) Except as otherwise explicitly made applicable to the authority, the 09 performance of the authority's duties and the exercise of its powers, including its 10 powers to issue bonds and otherwise incur debt, shall be governed exclusively by this 11 chapter. In furtherance of its purposes, the authority may 12 (1) own, acquire, construct, develop, create, reconstruct, equip, 13 operate, maintain, extend, and improve the Knik Arm bridge and its appurtenant
01 facilities; 02 (2) sue and be sued; 03 (3) adopt a seal; 04 (4) adopt, amend, and repeal regulations under AS 44.62 and establish 05 bylaws; 06 (5) make and execute agreements, contracts, and all other instruments 07 with any public or private person, governmental unit or agency, corporation, or other 08 business entity lawfully conducting business in the United States for the exercise of its 09 powers and functions under this chapter and for the financing, design, construction, 10 maintenance, improvement, or operation of facilities, properties, or projects of the 11 authority, including making and executing contracts with any person, firm, 12 corporation, governmental agency, or other entity for the purpose of 13 (A) incurring indebtedness, obtaining investments in the 14 authority's projects, acquiring or granting lump sum payments for services in 15 advance or in arrears, grants, and other financing; and 16 (B) entering into public-private partnerships or service 17 contracts in any form; the monetary obligations incurred by the authority 18 under the partnerships or contracts are obligations of the state, and 19 satisfaction of those obligations from funds other than authority funds is 20 subject to appropriation; 21 (6) in its own name acquire, lease, rent, sell, or convey real and 22 personal property; 23 (7) issue and refund bonds in accordance with this chapter, in order to 24 pay the cost of the Knik Arm bridge and its appurtenant facilities; the authority may 25 also secure payment of the bonds as provided in this chapter; 26 (8) incur other indebtedness, including lines of credit and indebtedness 27 to the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation, 28 under 23 U.S.C. 601 - 610 (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act 29 of 1998), as amended, and secure that indebtedness as provided in this chapter; 30 (9) apply for and accept gifts, grants, or loans from a federal agency or 31 an agency or instrumentality of the state, or from a municipality, private organization,
01 or other source, including obtaining title to state, local government, or privately owned 02 land, directly or through a department of the state having jurisdiction of the land; 03 (10) fix and collect fees, rents, tolls, rates, or other charges for the use 04 of the Knik Arm bridge and appurtenant facilities, or for a service developed, 05 operated, or provided by the authority; notwithstanding AS 37.10.050(a), fees, rents, 06 tolls, rates, and other charges fixed and collected under this paragraph may exceed the 07 actual operating cost of the use of the bridge, facility, or service; 08 (11) bring civil actions, refer criminal actions to the appropriate 09 authority, and take other actions or enter into agreements with law enforcement and 10 collection agencies to enforce the collection of its fees, rents, tolls, rates, other 11 charges, penalties, and other obligations; 12 (12) pledge, encumber, transfer, or otherwise obligate revenue derived 13 by the authority from the ownership, use, or operation of toll facilities, including fees, 14 rents, tolls, rates, charges, or other revenue of the authority or money that the 15 legislature may appropriate, except a state tax or license, as security for bonds or other 16 indebtedness or agreements of the authority; 17 (13) deposit or invest its funds, subject to agreements with 18 bondholders; 19 (14) procure insurance against any loss in connection with its 20 operation; 21 (15) contract for and engage the services of consultants, experts, and 22 financial and technical advisors that the authority considers necessary for the exercise 23 of its powers and functions under this chapter; 24 (16) apply for, obtain, hold, and use permits, licenses, or approvals 25 from appropriate agencies of the state, the United States, a foreign country, and any 26 other proper agency in the same manner as any other person; 27 (17) perform reconnaissance studies and engineering, survey, and 28 design studies with respect to the Knik Arm bridge and its appurtenant facilities; 29 (18) exercise powers of eminent domain or file a declaration of taking 30 as necessary for the Knik Arm bridge and appurtenant facilities under AS 09.55.240 - 31 09.55.460 to acquire land or an interest in land; the authority's exercise of powers
01 under this paragraph may not exceed the permissible exercise of those powers by the 02 state; 03 (19) confer with municipal and other governments, metropolitan 04 planning organizations, and the department, concerning the Knik Arm bridge; 05 (20) do all acts and things necessary to carry out the powers expressly 06 granted or necessarily implied in this chapter; nothing in this chapter limits the powers 07 of the authority that are expressly granted or necessarily implied. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 19.75.211(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 09 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority may borrow 10 money and issue and refund bonds on which the principal and interest are paid out of 11 and secured by 12 (1) the gross revenue derived by the authority from the ownership, use, 13 and operation of its toll facilities, including money derived from the fees, rents, tolls, 14 rates, charges, and other revenue of the authority under this chapter; 15 (2) revenue received by a private person or enterprise that has entered 16 into a public-private partnership agreement with the authority; or 17 (3) any other revenue or money that the legislature may appropriate, 18 except a state tax or license. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 19.75.211(c) is amended to read: 20 (c) The authority may issue bonds in an aggregate amount not to exceed 21 $600,000,000 [$500,000,000], plus the cost of issuance. 22 * Sec. 4. AS 19.75.211 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23 (e) Before issuing bonds for the Knik Arm bridge under this section, the 24 authority shall submit to the state bond committee a description of the bond issue and 25 a preliminary prospectus, offering circular, or official statement relating to the bond 26 issue. Bonds may not be issued unless the state bond committee finds, based on the 27 information submitted by the authority under this section and other information that is 28 reasonably available to the committee, that either the Knik Arm bridge revenue and 29 other revenue available to the authority or the revenue of the private person or 30 enterprise under a public-private partnership agreement entered into by the authority 31 under AS 19.75.111(a) can be reasonably expected to be adequate for payment of the
01 principal of and interest on the bonds to be issued and that issuance of the bonds by 02 the authority would not be expected to adversely affect the ability of the state or its 03 political subdivisions to market bonds. 04 * Sec. 5. AS 19.75.221(h) is amended to read: 05 (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority may establish 06 other funds and reserves as the board of directors may determine reasonable and 07 prudent for the issuance of bonds or for the conduct of the business and affairs of the 08 authority. The interest earned on or profit derived from these funds and reserves shall 09 be the property of the authority. Deposits made into a reserve fund established 10 under this section may include 11 (1) revenue derived by the authority from the ownership, use, or 12 operation of toll facilities, including fees, rents, tolls, rates, charges, or other 13 revenue of the authority; 14 (2) money that the legislature may appropriate; and 15 (3) other money which may be made available to the authority 16 from other sources. 17 * Sec. 6. AS 19.75.221 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 18 (i) Money in a reserve fund established under (h) of this section 19 (1) may be used only for 20 (A) the payment of monetary obligations, liabilities, and 21 indebtedness of the authority, including termination payment obligations, 22 under agreements for the financing, design, construction, maintenance, 23 improvement, or operation of facilities, properties, or projects of the authority; 24 (B) the performance of the authority's statutory functions, 25 including the authority's overhead and administrative costs and working 26 capital; and 27 (C) planning, permitting, design, acquisition, construction, 28 maintenance, improvement, or operation of projects, facilities, properties, 29 systems, or equipment of the authority or other public entities, including 30 expansions, extensions, and capacity improvements, eligible under applicable 31 federal and state law to be funded from toll revenue;
01 (2) may not be used for the purpose of planning, permitting, design, 02 acquisition, construction, maintenance, improvement, or operation of projects, 03 facilities, properties, systems, or equipment under (1) of this subsection if the 04 withdrawal would reduce the amount in the reserve fund to less than the reserve fund 05 requirement. 06 (j) Income or interest earned by, or increment to, a reserve fund established 07 under (h) of this section, from the investment of all or part of the fund, may be 08 transferred by the authority to other funds or accounts of the authority if the transfer 09 does not reduce the amount of a reserve fund below the reserve fund requirement. 10 (k) In computing the amount of a reserve fund established under (h) of this 11 section, securities in which all or a portion of the fund is invested shall be valued by a 12 reasonable method established by the authority by resolution or established by the 13 terms of the agreement for which the fund serves as security. Valuation must include 14 the amount of interest earned or accrued as of the date of the valuation. 15 (l) The chair of the board shall annually, not later than December 1, certify in 16 writing to the governor and the legislature the amount, if any, required to restore a 17 reserve fund established under (h) of this section to the reserve fund requirement. The 18 legislature may appropriate to the authority the amount certified by the chair of the 19 board that is needed to restore a reserve fund to the reserve fund requirement. 20 (m) In this section, "reserve fund requirement" means the amount required to 21 be on deposit in a reserve fund established under (h) of this section as of the date of 22 computation, as determined by resolution of the authority or by the terms of the 23 agreement for which the fund serves as security. 24 * Sec. 7. AS 19.75.261 is amended to read: 25 Sec. 19.75.261. Exemption from taxation. The real and personal property of 26 the authority and its assets, income, and receipts are declared to be the property of a 27 political subdivision of the state and are exempt from all taxes and special assessments 28 of the state or a political subdivision of the state. Notwithstanding any law to the 29 contrary, rights and interests in real and personal property, assets, income, and 30 receipts, including concession, franchise, leasehold, or other real or personal 31 property rights and interests, held by a private person or enterprise under a
01 public-private partnership agreement entered into under this chapter, except any 02 rights and interests of the private person in property serving a business, 03 commercial, or other purpose not necessary to operate the facilities, properties, 04 or projects of the authority, shall be exempt from all taxes and special 05 assessments of the state or a political subdivision of the state. All bonds of the 06 authority are declared to be issued by a political subdivision of the state and for an 07 essential public and governmental purpose. The bonds, the interest on the bonds, the 08 income from the bonds and the transfer of the bonds, and all assets, income, and 09 receipts pledged to pay or secure the payment of the bonds or interest on the bonds 10 are, at all times, exempt from taxation by or under the authority of the state, except for 11 inheritance and estate taxes and taxes on transfers by or in contemplation of death. 12 Nothing in this section affects or limits an exemption from license fees, property taxes, 13 or excise, income, or other taxes provided under any other law [, NOR DOES IT 14 CREATE A TAX EXEMPTION WITH RESPECT TO THE INTEREST OF ANY 15 BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OR OTHER PERSON, OTHER THAN THE 16 AUTHORITY, IN ANY PROPERTY, ASSETS, INCOME, RECEIPTS, PROJECT, 17 OR LEASE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER FINANCED UNDER THIS 18 CHAPTER]. 19 * Sec. 8. AS 19.75 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 20 Sec. 19.75.345. Knik Arm Crossing fund. (a) The Knik Arm Crossing fund is 21 established as a separate fund in the general fund. The fund consists of 22 (1) money appropriated to the fund by the legislature; 23 (2) gifts, bequests, contributions from other sources, and federal 24 money appropriated to the fund; 25 (3) interest earned on the fund balance and appropriated to the fund; 26 and 27 (4) investments, to be managed by the Department of Revenue, which 28 shall be the fiduciary of the fund under AS 37.10.071. 29 (b) The fund is not a dedicated fund. 30 (c) Money in the fund may be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the 31 authority for the purposes listed in this section.
01 (d) On a date determined by the authority but not before the authority executes 02 a public-private partnership agreement under AS 19.75.111(a)(5)(B) for design, 03 construction, and maintenance of the Knik Arm Crossing, the Department of Revenue 04 shall transfer money from the fund to the authority in an amount necessary to meet the 05 reserve fund requirement. The authority shall deposit the money into the reserve fund 06 established in AS 19.75.221(h).