EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
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SENATE BILL 442
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By: Calvert County Senators
Introduced and read first time: January 26, 2022
Assigned to: Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Calvert County Bond Request 2
FOR the purpose of authorizing and empowering the County Commissioners of Calvert 3
County, from time to time, to borrow not more than $13,183,000 to finance the 4
construction, improvement, or development of certain public buildings, roads, and 5
facilities in Calvert County, as herein defined, and to effect such borrowing by the 6
issuance and sale at public or private sale of its general obligation bonds in like par 7
amount; empowering the County to fix and determine, by resolution, the form, tenor, 8
interest rate or rates or method of determining the same, terms, conditions, 9
maturities, and all other details incident to the issuance and sale of the bonds; 10
empowering the County to issue refunding bonds for the purchase or redemption of 11
bonds in advance of maturity; empowering and directing the County to levy, impose, 12
and collect, annually, ad valorem taxes in rate and amount sufficient to provide funds 13
for the payment of the maturing principal of and interest on the bonds; exempting 14
the bonds and refunding bonds and the interest thereon and any income derived 15
therefrom from all State, county, municipal, and other taxation in the State of 16
Maryland; providing that nothing in this Act shall prevent the County from 17
authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds the interest on which is not excludable 18
from gross income for federal income tax purposes; and generally relating to the 19
issuance and sale of such bonds. 20
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 21
That, as used herein, the term “County” means the body politic and corporate of the State 22
of Maryland known as the County Commissioners of Calvert County, and the term 23
“construction, improvement, or development of public facilities” means the acquisition, 24
alteration, construction, reconstruction, enlargement, equipping, expansion, extension, 25
improvement, rehabilitation, renovation, upgrading, and repair of public buildings, roads, 26
and facilities, including but not limited to Calvert Pines Senior Center Renovations, Breezy 27
Shoreline Restoration, Lower Marlboro Culvert, existing storm drainage systems around 28
the county, and the West Prince Frederick Water Storage Tank, and issuance costs together 29
with the costs of acquiring land or interests in land as well as any related architectural, 30 2 SENATE BILL 442
financial, legal, planning, or engineering services. 1
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the County is hereby 2
authorized to finance any part or all of the costs of the public facilities described in Section 3
1 of this Act, and to borrow money and incur indebtedness for that purpose, at one time or 4
from time to time, in an amount not exceeding, in the aggregate, $13,183,000 and to 5
evidence such borrowing by the issuance and sale upon its full faith and credit of general 6
obligation bonds in like par amount, which may be issued at one time or from time to time, 7
in one or more groups or series, as the County may determine. 8
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the bonds sha ll be issued in 9
accordance with a resolution of the County, which shall describe generally the construction, 10
improvement, or development of public facilities for which the proceeds of the bond sale are 11
intended and the amount needed for those purposes. The County shall have and is hereby 12
granted full and complete authority and discretion in the resolution to fix and determine 13
with respect to the bonds of any issue: the designation, date of issue, denomination or 14
denominations, form or forms, and tenor of the bonds which, without limitation, may be 15
issued in registered form within the meaning of § 19–204 of the Local Government Article 16
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended; the rate or rates of interest payable 17
thereon, or the method of determining the same, which may include a variable rate; the 18
date or dates and amount or amounts of maturity, which need not be in equal par amounts 19
or in consecutive annual installments, provided only that no bond of any issue shall mature 20
later than 30 years from the date of its issue; the manner of selling the bonds, which may 21
be at either public or private sale, for such price or prices as may be determined to be for 22
the best interests of Calvert County; the manner of executing and sealing the bonds, which 23
may be by facsimile; the terms and conditions, if any, under which bonds may be tendered 24
for payment or purchase prior to their stated maturity; the terms or conditions, if any, 25
under which bonds may or shall be redeemed prior to their stated maturity; the place or 26
places of payment of the principal of and the interest on the bonds, which may be at any 27
bank or trust company within or without the State of Maryland; covenants relating to 28
compliance with applicable requirements of federal income tax law, including (without 29
limitation) covenants regarding the payment of rebate or penalties in lieu of rebate; 30
covenants relating to compliance with applicable requirements of federal or state securities 31
laws; and generally all matters incident to the terms, conditions, issuance, sale, and 32
delivery thereof. 33
The bonds may be made redeemable before maturity, at the option of the County, at 34
such price or prices and under such terms and conditions as may be fixed by the County 35
prior to the issuance of the bonds, either in the resolution or in a bond order pursuant to 36
the bond resolution. The bonds may be issued in registered form and provision may be made 37
for the registration of the principal only. In case any officer whose signature appears on 38
any bond ceases to be such officer before the delivery thereof, such signature shall 39
nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes as if he had remained in office until 40
such delivery. The bonds and the issuance and sale thereof shall be exempt from the 41
provisions of §§ 19–205 and 19–206 of the Local Government Article of the Annotated Code 42
of Maryland, as amended. 43
SENATE BILL 442 3
The County may enter into agreements with agents, banks, fiduciaries, insurers, or 1
others for the purpose of enhancing the marketability of any security for the bonds and for 2
the purpose of securing any tender option that may be granted to holders of the bonds, all 3
as may be determined and presented in the aforesaid resolution, which may (but need not) 4
state as security for the performance by the County of any monetary obligations under such 5
agreements the same security given by the County to bondholders for the performance by 6
the County of its monetary obligations under the bonds. 7
If the County determines in the resolution to offer any of the bonds by solicitation of 8
competitive bids at public sale, the resolution shall fix the terms and conditions of the public 9
sale and shall adopt a form of notice of sale, which shall outline the terms and conditions, 10
and a form of advertisement, which shall be published in one or more daily or weekly 11
newspapers having a general circulation in the County and which may also be published in 12
one or more journals having a circulation primarily among banks and investment bankers. 13
At least one publication of the advertisement shall be made not less than 10 days before 14
the sale of the bonds. 15
Upon delivery of any bonds to the purchaser or purchasers, payment therefor shall 16
be made to the Treasurer of Calvert County or such other official of Calvert County as may 17
be designated to receive such payment in a resolution passed by the County before such 18
delivery. 19
SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the net proceeds of the sale 20
of bonds shall be used and applied exclusively and solely for the acquisition, construction, 21
improvement, or development of public facilities for which the bonds are sold. If the 22
amounts borrowed shall prove inadequate to finance the projects described in the 23
resolution, the County may issue additional bonds with the limitations hereof for the 24
purpose of evidencing the borrowing of additional funds for such financing, provided the 25
resolution authorizing the sale of additional bonds shall so recite, but if the net proceeds of 26
the sale of any issue of bonds exceed the amount needed to finance the projects described 27
in the resolution, the excess funds so borrowed and not expended shall be applied to the 28
payment of the next principal maturity of the bonds or to the redemption of any part of the 29
bonds which have been made redeemable or to the purchase and cancellation of bonds, 30
unless the County shall adopt a resolution allocating the excess funds to the acquisition, 31
construction, improvement, or development of other public facilities, as defined and within 32
the limits set forth in this Act. 33
SECTION 5. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED , That the bonds hereby authorized 34
shall constitute, and they shall so recite, an irrevocable pledge of the full faith and credit 35
and unlimited taxing power of the County to the payment of the maturing principal of and 36
interest on the bonds as and when they become payable. In each and every fiscal year that 37
any of the bonds are outstanding, the County shall levy or cause to be levied ad valorem 38
taxes upon all the assessable property within the corporate limits of the County in rate and 39
amount sufficient to provide for or assure the payment, when due, of the principal of and 40
interest on all the bonds maturing in each such fiscal year and, in the event the proceeds 41
from the taxes so levied in any such fiscal year shall prove inadequate for such payment, 42
additional taxes shall be levied in the succeeding fiscal year to make up any such deficiency. 43 4 SENATE BILL 442
The County may apply to the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds issued 1
hereunder any funds received by it from the State of Maryland, the United States of 2
America, any agency or instrumentality thereof, or from any other source, if such funds are 3
granted for the purpose of assisting the County in financing the acquisition, construction, 4
improvement, or development of the public facilities defined in this Act and, to the extent 5
of any such funds received or receivable in any fiscal year, the taxes that are required to be 6
levied may be reduced accordingly. 7
SECTION 6. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the County is further 8
authorized and empowered, at any time and from time to time, to issue its bonds in the 9
manner hereinabove described for the purpose of refunding, by payment at maturity or 10
upon purchase or redemption, any bonds issued hereunder. The validity of any such 11
refunding bonds shall in no way be dependent upon or related to the validity or invalidity 12
of the obligations so refunded. The powers herein granted with respect to the issuance of 13
bonds shall be applicable to the issuance of refunding bonds. Such refunding bonds may be 14
issued by the County in such an amount as shall be necessary for the purpose of providing 15
it with funds to pay any of its outstanding bonds issued hereunder at maturity, for the 16
purpose of providing it with funds to purchase in the open market any of its outstanding 17
bonds issued hereunder, prior to the maturity thereof, or for the purpose of providing it 18
with funds for the redemption prior to maturity of any outstanding bonds issued hereunder 19
which are, by their terms, redeemable, for the purpose of providing it with funds to pay 20
interest on any outstanding bonds issued hereunder prior to their payment at maturity of 21
purchase or redemption in advance of maturity, or for the purpose of providing it with funds 22
to pay any redemption or purchase premium in connection with the refunding of any of its 23
outstanding bonds issued hereunder. The proceeds of the sale of any such refunding bonds 24
shall be segregated and set apart by the County as a separate trust fund to be used solely 25
for the purpose of paying the purchase or redemption prices of the bonds to be refunded. 26
SECTION 7. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the County may, prior to the 27
preparation of definitive bonds, issue interim certificates or temporary bonds, exchangeable 28
for definitive bonds when such bonds have been executed and are available for such 29
delivery, provided, however, that any such interim certificates or temporary bonds shall be 30
issued in all respects subject to the restrictions and requirements set forth in this Act. The 31
County may, by appropriate resolution, provide for the replacement of any bonds issued 32
hereunder which shall have become mutilated or lost or destroyed upon such conditions 33
and after receiving such indemnity as the County may require. 34
SECTION 8. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That any and all obligations issued 35
pursuant to the authority of this Act, their transfer, the interest payable thereon, and any 36
income derived therefrom in the hands of the holders thereof from time to time (including 37
any profit made in the sale thereof) shall be and are hereby declared to be at all times 38
exempt from State, county, municipal, or other taxation of every kind and nature 39
whatsoever within the State of Maryland. Nothing in this Act shall prevent the County 40
from authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds the interest on which is not excludable 41
from gross income for federal income tax purposes. 42
SECTION 9. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the authority to borrow 43 SENATE BILL 442 5
money and issue bonds conferred on the County by this Act shall be deemed to provide an 1
additional and alternative authority for borrowing money and shall be regarded as 2
supplemental and additional to powers conferred upon the County by other laws and shall 3
not be regarded as in derogation of any power now existing; and all Acts of the General 4
Assembly of Maryland heretofore passed authorizing the County to borrow money are 5
hereby continued to the extent that the powers contained in such Acts have not been 6
exercised, and nothing contained in this Act may be construed to impair, in any way, the 7
validity of any bonds that may have been issued by the County under the authority of any 8
said Acts, and the validity of the bonds is hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved. This 9
Act, being necessary for the welfare of the inhabitants of Calvert County, shall be liberally 10
construed to effect the purposes hereof. All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the 11
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency. 12
SECTION 10. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 13
June 1, 2022. 14