§ 21-18-314 — Bond issues; general obligation bonds; bond elections; bond tax levy

(a) A majority of the community college district board may
submit to the electors of the district the question of whether
the board shall issue bonds of the district not to exceed four
percent (4%) of the assessed valuation of the community college
district:
(i) For the purchase, erection, remodeling, or
completion of a building or buildings for community college
purposes and the equipment and suitable site therefor;
(ii) For the purchase of equipment and facilities,
including laboratories, libraries, and other such facilities as
may be deemed necessary and proper for the college;
(iii) For fees and costs attendant to the services of
attorneys, architects, and engineers, and for the cost of
publications, the printing of bonds and prospectus.
(b) Bonds may run for a period of twenty-five (25) years
or less and bear interest. In addition, not less than seven
percent (7%) of the bond proceeds shall be used for the
maintenance and repair and for facility obsolescence and
depreciation of any building or facility to be constructed or
otherwise acquired through the bond issue. The four percent
(4%) limitation in subsection (a) of this section shall be
separate and apart from and in addition to the ten percent (10%)
limitation of indebtedness as provided for by the constitution
and laws of Wyoming for school districts. The levy for payment
thereof is separate and apart from and in addition to the
operating levy of not to exceed four (4) mills, and additional
levy imposed under W.S. 21-18-303(b) and any additional
operating levy imposed under W.S. 21-18-311(f) of not to exceed
five (5) mills, unless the bond election question provides
otherwise.
(c) An election on the question of the issuance of bonds
by a community college district shall be held on the dates and
in the manner prescribed in the Political Subdivision Bond
Election Law, W.S. 22-21-101 through 22-21-112.
(d) If the proposed issue of bonds is approved in the
election and issuance thereof is authorized by the community
college district board the bonds may be sold at either public or
private sale. All costs and expenses incident to the issue and
sale of the bonds made may be paid out of the proceeds of the
sale of the bonds. If the bonds are sold at public sale the
community college district board must give at least one (1)
notice by publication in some newspaper of general circulation
in the community college district, and also in some newspaper
published in the capital of this state, of its intention to sell
the bonds, briefly describing same, and the time and place where
the sale will take place. The publication shall be made not
less than fifteen (15) days, nor more than thirty (30) days
prior to the date designated for the sale of the bonds.
(e) After ascertaining the best terms upon, and the lowest
interest at which the bonds can be sold, the community college
district board shall cause the bonds to be suitably printed or
lithographed, with coupons, if any, attached, and thereafter
shall have the bonds consecutively numbered and otherwise
properly prepared and executed. Bonds may be in such form as
the board may direct but must bear the signature of the
president of the community college board of trustees, be
countersigned by the secretary of the board, bear the district
seal and be countersigned by the county treasurer. Bond
coupons, if any, must be signed by the president and secretary
of the board and by the county treasurer. The secretary of the
community college board shall endorse a certificate upon every
bond that it is issued pursuant to law and is within the debt
limit of the issuer. Bonds shall be registered by the county
treasurer in a public book provided for that purpose stating the
number, date, amount, time and place of payment, rate of
interest, number of coupons attached, if any, for each bond so
entered and any other proper description thereof for future
identification.
(f) Bonds issued by community college districts pursuant
to this section shall bear interest payable annually or
semiannually, and evidenced by one (1) or two (2) sets of
coupons, if any, except that the first coupon may evidence
interest for a period not in excess of one (1) year, and the
bonds may be in one (1) or more series, may bear a date or
dates, may mature in an amount or amounts, serially or
otherwise, at a time or times not exceeding twenty-five (25)
years from their respective dates, may be in a denomination or
denominations, may be payable in a medium of payment, in a place
or places, within or without the state, including, but not
limited to the office of the county treasurer of the county in
which the college is located, may carry such registration
privileges, may be subject to terms or prior redemption in
advance of maturity in order, or by lot, or otherwise, at a time
or times with or without premium, may bear privileges for
reissuance in the same or other denominations, may be so
reissued without modification of maturities and interest rates
and may be in a form, either coupon or registered, as may be
provided by resolution of the community college district board.
Except as the board may otherwise provide, bonds and interest
coupons attached thereto, if any, are fully negotiable, within
the meaning of and for all purposes of the Uniform Commercial
Code, W.S. 34.1-8-101 through 34.1-8-603. A holder of each
bond, by accepting the bond, shall be conclusively deemed to
have agreed that the bond is and shall be fully negotiable
within the meaning and for all purposes of the Uniform
Commercial Code, W.S. 34.1-8-101 through 34.1-8-603.
(g) Whenever the issuance of bonds by a community college
district may be lawful, the community college district board
having authority to issue said bonds may, at its discretion,
divide such issues into series so that substantially equal
amounts of the indebtedness shall mature annually, or so that
substantially equal tax levies shall be required for the payment
of principal and interest of such bonds, or that substantially
equal tax payments shall be required for the payment of
principal and interest of all outstanding bonds of the district
issuing said bonds, the bonds of each such series being made due
and payable at a definite date within the period permitted by
law for the discharge of such indebtedness.
(h) The sale of bonds must be conducted by the community
college district board. All proceeds from the sale of bonds
shall be paid to the treasury of the county in which the college
is located to the credit of the community college district and
shall be made immediately available to the community college
district upon order of the community college district board.
Bonds shall not be sold for less than par value, and the board
is authorized to reject any bids. The faith, credit, and all
property lying within the community college district are
solemnly pledged for the payment of the interest and the
redemption of the principal of all bonds issued pursuant to this
section.
(j) The board of county commissioners shall cause to be
levied annually upon all taxable property of the community
college district, in addition to other authorized taxes, a
sufficient sum to pay the principal and interest on bonds as the
payments thereon become due to be levied, assessed, and
collected in the same manner as other taxes for school purposes.
The tax shall be known as "District bond tax of .... Community
College District" and shall be levied until the principal and
interest of the bonds are fully paid. If the tax for the
payment of interest on any bonds issued under this act at any
time is not levied or collected in time to meet payment, the
interest shall be paid out of any monies in the general fund of
the district and the monies so used for payment shall be repaid
to the fund from which taken out of the first monies collected
from district taxes.
(k) The county treasurer shall pay out of any monies
belonging to the community college district tax fund, the
interest upon any bonds issued under this section by the college
district when due upon presentation at his office of the proper
coupon, which must show the amount due, and the number of the
bond to which it belonged. All coupons paid must be reported to
the community college district board at its meeting thereafter.
(m) If any member of the community college district board
fraudulently fails or refuses to pay into the proper county
treasury the money arising from the sale of any bonds provided
for by this act, he is guilty of a felony and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
penitentiary for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more
than ten (10) years.
(n) The community college district board shall require the
county treasurer to give the district a separate bond in such
sum as the board deems proper, with two (2) or more sufficient
sureties, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the
duties required of him by this section and the faithful
accounting for the monies deposited with him and realized from
the sale of said bonds, as herein provided for. Bonds shall be
approved by the board and shall be and remain in the custody of
the district board.
(o) The bonds and any coupons bearing the signatures of
the officers in office at the time of the signing thereof are
valid and binding obligations of the community college district
board, notwithstanding that before delivery or payment thereof,
any or all of the persons whose signatures or facsimiles appear
thereon have ceased to fill their respective offices.
(p) Any officer of the board authorized or permitted to
sign any bonds, including revenue bonds, refunding bonds, and
bonds specified in this section, or interest coupons at the time
of its execution, upon the execution and filing of a signature
certificate, may execute or cause to be executed with a
facsimile signature in lieu of his manual signature any bonds
and coupons, if any, issued pursuant to the provisions of this
act and may adopt as and for his own signature the facsimile
signature of his predecessor in office in the event that the
facsimile signature, having been executed by an officer then
authorized to do so, appears upon the bonds or coupons. When
the seal of the district is required in the execution of a bond
or instrument of payment, the secretary of the community college
district board may cause the seal to be imprinted, engraved,
stamped, or otherwise placed in facsimile thereon.