Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The
following constitutes all of the existing rules, as defined in the Act,
including all rules in existence on January 1, 1975, and all other written
statements of policy or interpretations formulated, adopted, or used by the
commission in the discharge of its functions, including all final orders,
decisions and opinions, as amended.
B. The following has been adopted concerning
meeting dates: Regular meetings shall be held at 10 a.m. on the third Thursday
of each month, provided that:
1. any meeting
at which bids are to be received for the sale of bonds may be held at either 10
a.m. or 11 a.m., any meeting held during Legislative Sessions will be held at 8
a.m. unless bids are to be received for the sale of bonds; and
2. any meeting held in lieu of a regular
meeting date due to state holidays shall be deemed a regular meeting, and such
new meeting date shall be determined by the chairman of the commission; special
meetings may be called by the chairman of the commission on any date.
C. Applications, to include the
name, address, and telephone number of the responsible official, must be filed
with the commission at least 20 working days prior to the commission meeting at
which the application will be considered. However, the secretary of the
commission may approve a later filing for an emergency or an extraordinary
situation. One copy of any related resolution or ordinance, certified by a duly
authorized official, and one copy of the financial statements described in
§103. E shall be submitted with the application. Unless otherwise provided by
these rules, all information relating to an application shall be submitted to
the commission no later than 10 working days prior to the commission meeting at
which the application will be considered; otherwise, the application will not
be docketed for consideration.
D.
Notices of meetings and tentative agendas will be mailed or otherwise made
available to each member and any other party who has requested same at least
six days prior to the meeting, and notices of meetings will be posted in
accordance with law.
E. Financial
statements, as described below, must be submitted with all applications to
incur debt.
1. If the recently completed
operating year ended less than 90 days prior to the date of the application to
incur debt, the following financial statements must be submitted with the
application:
a. financial statements covering
all funds for the second preceding year; and
b. interim financial statements, for the
General Fund and for the fund from which the debt will be paid, from the date
of the last financial statements to three months prior to the date of the
application.
2. If the
most recently completed operating year ended 90 days or more prior to the date
of the application to incur debt, the following financial statements must be
submitted with the application:
a. prior year
financial statements covering all funds; and
b. interim financial statements, for the
General Fund and for the fund from which the debt will be paid, from the date
of the prior year financial statements to three months prior to the date of the
application.
F. The secretary of the commission shall be
responsible for docketing all matters to be considered by the commission, and
no matter will be docketed that does not comply with commission policy or that
cannot otherwise be legally considered.
G. A personal appearance by a representative
of the applicant is necessary in emergency matters; no such personal appearance
is otherwise necessary unless specifically requested by the commission
staff.
H. The secretary or
assistant secretary of the commission shall be responsible for presenting all
matters to the commission and will report all matters with a recommendation for
approval, disapproval, deferral, or no recommendation.
I. A docket meeting among representatives of
the commission staff, the Legislative Auditor's Office, and the Attorney
General's Office will be held prior to each commission meeting to review all
matters on the agenda.
J. The
following shall be furnished to the commission staff in regard to the issuance
of bonds or other evidences of debt:
1. a copy
of the official statement when prepared; and
2. a copy of the bid submitted by the bidder
or bidders to whom the bonds were awarded and an amortization schedule when
available.
K. All legal
fees to be paid in connection with all applications shall be in accordance with
the Attorney General's fee schedule and shall be subject to his approval. Each
applicant shall state the amount of the attorney's fee or that said fee does
not exceed said schedule, in order to comply with this rule.
L. The maximum financial advisor's fee and
maximum underwriter's compensation on negotiated sales shall be approved by the
commission; provided, however, that, in the case of industrial revenue bonds,
no commission approval shall be required.
M. Approval of the Department of Commerce and
Industry must be obtained for projects to be funded by industrial revenue
bonds, including industrial development board and public trust projects, which
approval shall certify compliance with the provisions of Rule 1 adopted by the
Board of Commerce and Industry. If such approval is not obtained prior to
submission of the application to the commission, then any approval of the
commission will be made subject to approval of the Department of Commerce and
Industry.
N. The results of all
elections which are authorized by the commission shall be reported to the
commission by a representative of the applicant as soon as they are
promulgated.
O. All advance
refundings must be conducted strictly in compliance with all proposed federal
regulations regarding arbitrage or any other matter relating thereto.
P. Line of Credit
1. A cash line of credit is
an authorization to a state agency to proceed with a project and draw from the
State Treasury funds for the project prior to the sale of bonds for that
project. The maximum amount of lines of credit in any fiscal year which may be
authorized by the commission shall be the amount set forth in the comprehensive
capital outlay act adopted by the Legislature. Bonds shall be issued to
replenish lines of credit granted in the fiscal year in which the line of
credit was granted. No lines of credit may be granted for a project unless and
until either the bonds have been sold, lines of credit have been granted, or a
certificate of impossibility and impracticality has been issued for all
projects of higher priority as stated in the comprehensive capital budget
adopted by the Legislature. The maximum amount of lines of credit provided
herein shall not apply in cases where the commission shall deem an item to be
an emergency matter.
2. Monies
advanced on a line of credit for any project shall be spent only in accordance
with the description in the bond authorization act authorizing bonds to be
issued for that project.
3. Prior
to the execution of any contract or agreement obligating the expenditure of
monies received by any state department or agency or any other entity from line
of credit funds, the Attorney General's Office shall be requested to review
such proposed contracts or agreements for the sole purpose of determining
whether expenditure of funds thereunder is for the purpose of furthering the
applicable project adopted by the Legislature. If given, such prior approval by
the Attorney General's Office shall be in writing to the appropriate state
department, agency, or other entity with a copy to be furnished to the Bond
Commission.
4. Should the Attorney
General's Office determine that the proposed expenditure of line of credit
funds not be in order, no funds may be used to pay obligations which may be
incurred if such contracts are executed after an adverse conclusion by the
Attorney General's Office.
5. All
approvals of lines of credit shall be conditioned on compliance by the state
department, agency, or other entity with the aforementioned procedure, and it
shall be their duty to request approval from the Attorney General's Office,
stating to which bond act and to which project the contract or agreement in
question pertains. Failure to comply with such procedure by any such
department, agency, or other entity shall result in the immediate revocation of
the line of credit, and all information regarding the possible expenditure of
line of credit funds for other than authorized purposes shall be forwarded
immediately by the commission to the Attorney General's Office and the District
Attorney's Office.
Q.
Concerning the matter of ratings obtained from rating agencies for issuances of
debt, the commission has adopted the following policy.
1. The commission staff will request of the
rating agency in writing what information the rating agency requested the
issuer to furnish, which has not been so furnished.
2. The commission staff will ask that the
rating agency inform the commission when such rating agency requests
information from an issuer by providing the commission with a copy of the
request.
3. The commission staff
will send a letter to the issuer from whom the rating agency has requested
information, with a copy to the issuer's bond attorney, and will assist the
issuer and the bond attorney in preparing responses to the rating
agency.
4. Once a rating has been
obtained, the issuer will put forth its best effort to furnish the requested
information to the rating agency.
R. Meetings of the commission shall be
conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of
Order.
S. The attached
guidelines are provided in part for informational purposes but also set forth
requirements for approval of applications submitted to the
commission.
T. Commission rules
regarding revenue bonds of state agencies and public trust bonds if the state
is the beneficiary are as follows.
1. No state
agency or public trust authority will begin planning a project without first
notifying the secretary of the commission of the details of such
plans.
2. The secretary will either
report the undertaking to the commission or arrange for the principals involved
to appear before the commission for a preliminary presentation.
3. The secretary of the commission will be
advised of all meetings as plans progress and will be furnished copies of all
written documents in order that the staff of the commission may participate in
and/or be kept abreast of all developments.
4. At such time as the secretary determines
that the project will be undertaken and prior to any commitments by any of the
parties involved, a preliminary presentation will be scheduled for commission
consideration. This presentation will consist of a complete report of progress
to date and future plans. The commission will either preliminarily authorize or
disapprove proceedings with the project.
5. All third party contracts will be subject
to review by the secretary of the commission and all contracts which directly
relate to a determination which must be made by the commission will be subject
to review by the commission.
6.
Applications to the commission to sell bonds on behalf of an agency or public
trust authority will be made by certified resolution duly adopted by the
issuing authority and will be accompanied by such documents as are necessary to
justify the need and feasibility of the undertaking.
7. The following acts, documents, and
contracts shall either be approved by the commission prior to consummation or
entered into subject to the approval or ratification of the commission (unless
the authority for such approval or ratification is vested in the chairman or
secretary of the commission):
a. appointment
of bond counsel;
b. appointment of
special legal counsel;
c.
appointment of financial advisors;
d. appointment of underwriters;
e. appointment of trustee banks and paying
agents banks;
f. employment of
firms to undertake feasibility studies;
g. appointment of all other consultants not
referred to in Subparagraphs a.-f. above;
h. official statement;
i. notice of sale;
j. authorizing bond resolution;
k. bond indenture;
l. agreement to purchase bonds;
m. all other contracts that relate to the
sale or security of the bonds, the disposition of bond proceeds, or the
operation of the project or undertaking.
U. Those portions of the Debt Policy and
Procedures Law, R.S. 39:1361-66, and the Bond Commission Law, R.S. 39:1401-10,
and any other law pertaining to the issuance of state general obligation bonds,
are hereby declared to be the rules and procedures under which state general
obligations bonds shall be authorized, issued, sold, and the procedures
therefrom applied.
V.
1. All applications for special emergency
elections, as allowed under the authority of
R.S.
18:402(F)(6), shall first be
reviewed by a special committee appointed by the chairman of the Bond
Commission, to review applications for the granting of special emergency
election dates. The following criteria shall be used by the committee to
determine whether an emergency situation exists.
a. An emergency shall be a sudden, unexpected
occurrence or set of circumstances which is beyond the control of the governing
authority of the parish, municipality, or parish or city school
board.
b. The resolution of the
emergency situation can be accomplished only with the approval of a special
emergency election date.
c. A
substantial loss, either financial or nonfinancial, to the public, or the
foregoing of a substantial gain by the public, will occur.
2. A governing authority may request approval
of an election date only or approval of both the date and the actual holding of
the election. Should the governing authority request approval of an election
date only, then it shall specify such date and request such approval in
resolution form prior to review by the committee. Should the governing
authority request approval of both the date and the actual holding of the
election, it shall submit the following in resolution form prior to review by
the committee:
a. the date of the proposed
election (must be on a Saturday);
b. declaration of an emergency by the
governing authority of the parish, municipality, or parish or city school
board;
c. written reasons for
requesting a special emergency election date;
d. sufficient data for approval of a bond,
tax, or other election at which a proposition or question is to be submitted to
the voters; and
e. cost of the
proposed emergency election.
3. After review, the committee will recommend
to the Bond Commission that the application for an emergency election date be
either approved or disapproved.
W. It is the policy of the Bond Commission
that the interest rate be established and submitted with applications for
budgetary or excess revenue loans, and for loans secured by the pledge of the
avails of a special tax. Where such interest rate is above 6 percent, the
applicant must apply for the loan at not less than two lending institutions and
must have received replies from such institutions stating either the interest
rate at which such institution will grant the loan, or that such institution
will not grant the loan. Such replies must be submitted with the application to
the Bond Commission.
X. Procedure
for Adoption, Amendment, or Repeal of Rules of the Bond Commission [as defined
by
R.S.
49:951(6)]
1. The Bond Commission shall, prior to the
adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule, afford all interested persons
reasonable opportunity to submit data, views, or arguments, orally or in
writing. In case of substantive rules, opportunity for oral presentation or
argument shall be granted if requested by 25 persons, by a governmental
subdivision or agency, by an association having not less than 25 members, or by
a committee of either house of the Legislature to which the proposed rule
change has been referred under provisions of Section 968 of Title 49.
a. At least eight working days prior to the
meeting of the Bond Commission at which a rule or rules are proposed to be
adopted, amended, or repealed, notice of an intention to make an oral or
written presentation shall be given to the director or assistant director of
the Bond Commission. If the presentation is to be oral, such notice shall
contain the name or names, telephone numbers and mailing address of the person
or persons who will make such oral presentation, who they are representing, the
estimated time needed for the presentation, and a brief summary of the
presentation. Notice of such oral presentation may be sent to all Bond
Commission members prior to the meeting. If the presentation is to be written,
such notice shall contain the name or names of the person or persons submitting
such written statement, who they are representing, and a copy of the statement
itself. Such written statement will be sent to all Bond Commission members
prior to the meeting.
b. The
commission shall consider all written and oral submissions respecting the
proposed rule. Upon adoption of a rule, the commission, if requested to do so
by an interested person either prior to adoption or within 30 days thereafter,
shall issue a concise statement of the principal reasons for or against its
adoption.
2. Any
interested person may petition the Bond Commission requesting the adoption,
amendment, or repeal of a rule. Each request must state either the present rule
to be amended along with proposed changes, or text of the proposed new rule to
be presented to the Bond Commission for adoption. Upon receipt by the director,
notice of such request, and such other information as he may deem appropriate,
shall be sent to all Bond Commission members. The person requesting the change
or his representative shall be present at the Bond Commission meeting to make a
presentation and/or to answer any questions. Within 90 days after submission of
a petition, the Bond Commission shall either deny the petition in writing,
stating reasons for denial, or will initiate rulemaking proceedings.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
49:950 et
seq.
