1 SB296
2 217889-1
3 By Senator Livingston (Constitutional Amendment)
4 RFD: Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development
5 First Read: 08-MAR-22
Page 0 1 217889-1:n:02/23/2022:SLU/cr LSA2022-17
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8 SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, among other things,
9 Amendment 772 to the Constitution of Alabama of
10 1901, now appearing as Section 94.01 of the
11 Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
12 Alabama of 1901, as amended, authorizes counties
13 and municipalities to use public funds to acquire
14 real estate for economic and industrial
15 development; and Section 222 of the Constitution of
16 Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits counties and
17 municipalities from issuing bonds without a vote of
18 the people.
19 This bill would propose an amendment to
20 Amendment 772 to the Constitution of Alabama of
21 1901, as amended, to specify that counties and
22 municipalities are exempt from the prohibition
23 against issuing bonds under Amendment 772 without a
24 vote of the people; revise requirements for
25 publication of notice for economic and industrial
26 development projects; and ratify all actions and
27 agreements of any county or municipality done under
Page 1 1 Amendment 772 unless the action or agreement is
2 subject to pending judicial proceedings on the date
3 of ratification of this amendment.
4
5 A BILL
6 TO BE ENTITLED
7 AN ACT
8
9 Proposing an amendment to Amendment 772 to the
10 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section
11 94.01 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
12 Alabama of 1901, as amended, relating to economic development
13 projects of counties and municipalities; to revise
14 requirements for incurring indebtedness for economic
15 development purposes; to revise the requirement for
16 publication of notices for economic and industrial purposes;
17 and to ratify actions taken and agreements made under
18 Amendment 772 made prior to the ratification of this
19 amendment.
20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
21 Section 1. The following amendment to the
22 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, is proposed and
23 shall become valid as a part thereof when approved by a
24 majority of the qualified electors voting thereon and in
25 accordance with Sections 284, 285, and 287 of the Constitution
26 of Alabama of 1901, as amended:
27 PROPOSED AMENDMENT
Page 2 1 "Amendment 772
2 "(a) The governing body of any county, and the
3 governing body of any municipality located therein, for which
4 a local constitutional amendment has not been adopted
5 authorizing any of the following, a county or municipality
6 shall have full and continuing power to do any of the
7 following:
8 "(1) Use public funds to purchase, lease, or
9 otherwise acquire real property, buildings, plants, factories,
10 facilities, machinery, and equipment of any kind, or to
11 utilize the properties heretofore purchased or otherwise
12 acquired on or before adoption of this amendment, and to
13 improve and develop the properties for use as sites for
14 industry of any kind or as industrial park projects,
15 including, but not limited to, grading and the construction of
16 roads, drainage, sewers, sewage and waste disposal systems,
17 parking areas, and utilities to serve the sites or projects.
18 "(2) Lease, sell, grant, exchange, or otherwise
19 convey, on terms approved by the governing body of the county
20 or the municipality, as applicable, all or any part of any
21 real property, buildings, plants, factories, facilities,
22 machinery, and equipment of any kind or industrial park
23 project to any individual, firm, corporation, or other
24 business entity, public or private, including any industrial
25 development board or other public corporation or authority
26 heretofore or hereafter created by the county or the
27 municipality before or after adoption of this amendment, for
Page 3 1 the purpose of constructing, developing, equipping, and
2 operating industrial, commercial, research, or service
3 facilities of any kind.
4 "(3) Lend its credit to, or grant public funds and
5 things of value in aid of, or to, any individual, firm,
6 corporation, or other business entity, public or private, for
7 the purpose of promoting the economic and industrial
8 development of the county or the municipality.
9 "(4) Become indebted and issue bonds, warrants which
10 may be payable from funds to be realized in future years,
11 notes, or other obligations, or evidences of indebtedness to a
12 an aggregate outstanding principal amount not exceeding an
13 amount equal to 50 percent of the assessed value of taxable
14 property therein as determined for state taxation, in order to
15 secure funds for the purchase, construction, lease, or
16 acquisition of any of the property described in subdivision
17 (1), or to be used in furtherance of any of the other powers
18 or authorities granted in this amendment. The obligations or
19 evidences of indebtedness may be issued upon the full faith
20 and credit of the county or any municipality or may be limited
21 as to the source of their payment.
22 "(b) The recital in any bonds, warrants, notes, or
23 other obligations, or evidences of indebtedness that they were
24 issued pursuant to this amendment, or that they were issued to
25 provide funds to be used in furtherance of any power or
26 authority herein authorized shall be conclusive, and no
27 purchaser or holder thereof need inquire further. The bonds,
Page 4 1 warrants, notes, or other obligations or evidences of
2 indebtedness issued hereunder shall not be considered do not
3 constitute an indebtedness of the county or any municipality
4 for the purpose of determining the borrowing capacity of the
5 county or municipality under this Constitution.
6 "(b)(c) In carrying out the purpose of this
7 amendment, neither the county nor any municipality located
8 therein a county or a municipality shall not be subject to
9 Section 93 or 94 of this Constitution or be required to comply
10 with Section 222 of this Constitution. Each public corporation
11 heretofore created by the county or by any municipality
12 located therein on or before the adoption of this amendment,
13 including specifically any industrial development board
14 incorporated under Article 4 of Chapter 54 of Title 11 of the
15 Code of Alabama 1975, and any industrial development authority
16 incorporated or reincorporated under Chapter 92A of Title 11
17 of the Code of Alabama 1975, and the Shoals Economic
18 Development Authority enacted under Act No. 95-512, 1995
19 Regular Session, are validated and the powers granted to the
20 board or authority under its respective enabling legislation
21 are validated, notwithstanding any other provision of law or
22 of this Constitution. The powers granted by this amendment may
23 be exercised as an exclusive alternative to, or cumulative
24 with, and in no way restrictive of, powers otherwise granted
25 by this Constitution or any law to the county, or to any
26 municipality, or to any agency, board, or authority created
27 pursuant to the laws of this state.
Page 5 1 "(c)(d) Neither the county nor any municipality
2 located therein shall lend its credit to, or grant any public
3 funds or thing of value to, or in aid of, any private entity
4 under the authority of this amendment unless prior thereto to
5 doing so, both of the following are satisfied:
6 "(1) The action proposed to be taken by the county
7 or municipality is approved at a public meeting of the
8 governing body of the county or municipality, as the case may
9 be, by a resolution containing a determination by the
10 governing body that the expenditure of public funds for the
11 purpose specified will serve a valid and sufficient public
12 purpose, notwithstanding any incidental benefit accruing to
13 any private entity or entities.
14 "(2) At least seven days prior to the public
15 meeting, a notice is published in the a newspaper having the
16 largest circulation in circulation in the county or
17 municipality, as the case may be, describing in reasonable
18 detail the action proposed to be taken, a description of the
19 public benefits sought to be achieved by the action, and
20 identifying each individual, firm, corporation, or other
21 business entity to whom, or for whose benefit, the county or
22 the municipality proposes to lend its credit or grant public
23 funds or thing of value.
24 "(e) For purposes of the foregoing, any sale, lease,
25 or other disposition of property for a price equal to the its
26 fair market value thereof shall not constitute the lending of
Page 6 1 credit or a grant of public funds or thing of value in aid of
2 a private entity.
3 "(f) Nothing in this amendment shall authorize the
4 county commission to own or operate a cable television system.
5 "(d)(g) Any action taken, or agreement made, under
6 Amendment 772 by any county or municipality prior to the date
7 this amendment is ratified and confirmed in all respects as of
8 that date, except to the extent that its validity is being
9 challenged in appropriate judicial proceedings in any court of
10 competent jurisdiction on the date this amendment is ratified.
11 This amendment These amendatory provisions shall have
12 prospective application only. Any local constitutional
13 amendments previously adopted and any local law enacted
14 pursuant to such amendment shall remain in full force and
15 effect."
16 Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment
17 shall be held in accordance with Sections 284 and 285 of the
18 Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Sections 284
19 and 285 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
20 Alabama of 1901, as amended, and the election laws of this
21 state.
22 Section 3. The appropriate election official shall
23 assign a ballot number for the proposed constitutional
24 amendment on the election ballot and shall set forth the
25 following description of the substance or subject matter of
26 the proposed constitutional amendment:
Page 7 1 "Proposing an amendment to revise Amendment 772 to
2 the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, to specify
3 that all counties and municipalities may exercise the
4 authority and powers granted by Amendment 772 to provide for
5 economic and industrial development; to permit notice for
6 Amendment 772 projects to be published in any newspaper in
7 circulation in the county or municipality; and to ratify all
8 actions and agreements of any county or municipality done
9 under Amendment 772 unless subject to pending judicial
10 proceedings on the date of adoption of this amendment.
11 "Proposed by Act ________."
12 This description shall be followed by the following
13 language:
14 "Yes ( ) No ( )."
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