Senate Bill No. 707
(By Senator Unger)
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[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Agriculture; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §19-32-1, §19-32-2,
§19-32-3, §19-32-4, §19-32-5, §19-32-6, §19-32-7, §19-32-8,
§19-32-9, §19-32-10, §19-32-11 and §19-32-12, all relating to
the 2020 Rural West Virginia Agricultural and Resource-Based
Industry Development Act generally.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §19-32-1, §19-32-2,
§19-32-3, §19-32-4, §19-32-5, §19-32-6, §19-32-7, §19-32-8, §19-32-
9, §19-32-10, §19-32-11 and §19-32-12, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 32. 2020 Rural West Virginia Agricultural and
Resource-Based Industry Development Act.
§19-32-1. 2020 Rural West Virginia Agricultural and Resource-Based
Industry Development Act.
For the purpose of establishing the West Virginia Agricultural
and Resource-Based Industry Development for certain purposes;
establishing the membership, terms and duties of the board of
directors of the corporation; providing for the staffing of and
assistance to the corporation; establishing the powers and duties
of the corporation; authorizing the corporation to acquire and
dispose of certain property, to finance certain projects, to issue,
redeem and secure certain bonds and debtor, including revenue bonds
and refunding bonds; authorizing the corporation to make certain
loans, insure certain assets and matters, establish and collect
certain charges, and establish and pay certain interest;
authorizing certain lending institutions and other persons to take
certain actions concerning the corporation; establishing the
conditions under which the corporation may issue and redeem certain
debt; providing that neither the state nor any political
subdivision other than the corporation shall be obliged to pay a
bond or interest of the corporation except from revenues pledged on
the bond; providing that neither the full faith and credit nor the
taxing power of the state or any political subdivision of the state
is pledged to the payment of the principal or interest of bonds of
the corporation; providing that the books and records of the
corporation are subject to audit; providing for certain exemptions
from certain state laws for the corporation; providing that the
corporation and certain persons are subject to certain laws; providing that the debts, claims, obligations, and liabilities of
the corporation are of the corporation only, and not of the state
or any other unit, instrumentality, officer or employee of the
state; defining certain terms; stating certain findings of the
Legislature; requiring certain reports about the corporation to
certain persons on certain dates; making the provisions of this
article severable; stating the intent that funding for the
corporation must be provided within existing resources of certain
state agencies and that additional funding may not be provided
until certain conditions are met; and generally relating to West
Virginia agricultural and resource-based industry development.
§19-32-2. Definitions.
(a) In this subtitle the following terms have the meanings
indicated:
(b) "Agricultural loan" means a loan made by a lending
institution to any person for the purpose of financing:
(1) Land acquisition or improvement;
(2) Agricultural, aquacultural, equine, horticultural or
silvicultural production;
(3) Soil conservation;
(4) Pond construction;
(5) Irrigation;
(6) Water well drilling;
(7) Construction, renovation, or expansion of buildings and facilities;
(8) Purchase of farm fixtures, livestock or poultry;
(9) Fish, crustaceans and mollusks of any kind;
(10) Seeds, plants and trees;
(11) Fertilizers;
(12) Pesticides;
(13) Feeds;
(14) Machinery;
(15) Equipment; or
(16) Containers or supplies employed in the production,
cultivation, harvesting, processing, storage, marketing,
distribution, or export of agricultural products.
(c) "Agriculture" means the commercial production, storage,
processing, marketing, distribution, or export of an agronomic
aquacultural, equine, floricultural, horticultural, ornamental,
silvicultural, or viticultural crop, including:
(1) Farm products;
(2) Livestock and livestock products;
(3) Poultry and poultry products;
(4) Milk and dairy products;
(5) Timber and forest products;
(6) Fruit and horticultural products; and
(7) Seafood and aquacultural products.
(d) "Board" means the board of directors of the corporation.
(e) "Bond" means a bond, note, renewal note, refunding bond,
interim certificate, certificate of indebtedness, debenture,
warrant, commercial paper, or other obligation or evidence of
indebtedness authorized to be issued by the corporation under this
subtitle.
(f) "Corporation" means the West Virginia Agricultural and
Resource-based Industry Development Corporation established under
this subtitle.
(g) "Lending institution" means a bank, bank or trust company,
federal land bank, farm credit association, bank for cooperatives,
building and loan association, homestead, insurance company,
investment banker, mortgage banker or company, pension or
retirement fund, savings bank or savings and loan association,
small business investment company, credit union, or any other
financial institution authorized to do business in the state or
operating under the supervision of a federal unit.
(h)(1) "Person" means an individual, receiver, trustee,
guardian, personal representative, fiduciary representative of any
kind, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other entity.
(2) "Person" includes a unit of a state or of the federal
government.
(i)(1) "Project" means a property, the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, equipping, expansion, extension,
improvement, rehabilitation, or remodeling of which the board, in its sole and absolute discretion, determines by resolution will
accomplish at least one of the purposes listed in this article,
whether the property, or any interest in the property:
(A) Is or will be used or operated for profit or not for
profit;
(B) Is or will be located on a single site or multiple sites;
or
(C) May be financed by bonds, the interest on which is exempt
from federal income taxation under federal law.
(2) "Project" includes:
(A) Land or any interest in land;
(B) Buildings, structures, machinery, equipment, furnishings,
rail or motor vehicles, barges and boats;
(C) Real or personal property, or any combination of them, and
rights related to the property, appurtenances, rights-of-way,
franchises, easements, and other interests in land;
(D) Land and facilities functionally related and subordinate
to the project; and
(E) Patents, licenses, and other rights necessary or useful in
the construction or operation of a project.
(j)(1) "Revenue" means the income, revenue, and other money
received by the corporation from or in connection with a project.
(2) "Revenue" includes grants, rentals, rates, fees, charges
for the use of the services furnished or available, and all other income inuring to the corporation.
(3) The corporation may further define or limit the term
"revenue" as applied to a particular project, financing, or other
matter.
§19-32-3. Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds that:
(a) The state's agricultural and resource-based industries
continue to underpin the local economies of rural communities, but
are increasingly under threat from national and international
market competition, urban encroachment and land development
pressure, and environmental and regulatory influences;
(b) The construction and renovation of food and fiber
processing and secondary manufacturing facilities often require
credit and capital in amounts that far exceed the available
resources of individual small producers and small business;
(c) Private enterprise and existing federal and state
governmental programs have not adequately addressed agricultural
industry support or developmental opportunities relating to
emergent value-added agricultural processing activities, new or
alternative markets development, primary and secondary
manufacturing, assistance for beginning farmers and producers and
financial support for environmental or technological enhancements;
(d) While some traditional agricultural enterprises in the
state may have access to markets, capital, and credit, other existing or emerging segments of the agricultural industry lack
market access, capital, and credit available for investment in
agriculture for domestic and export purposes, and at interest rates
within the financial means of persons engaged in agricultural
production and agricultural exports:
(e) In conjunction with the financial and other challenges
associated with traditional agricultural industry, there is a need
to provide economic and market development assistance to those
individuals who wish to start, convert, or diversify their
agricultural operations, or to make improvements associated with
environmental regulations and potential market opportunities; and
(f) It is a matter of significant rural economic development
importance that the West Virginia Agricultural and Resource-Based
Industry Development Corporation be created and authorized to:
(1) Develop agricultural industries and markets;
(2) Support appropriate commercialization of agricultural
processes and technology; and
(3) Alleviate the shortage or nontraditional capital and
credit available at affordable interest rates for:
(A) Investment in agriculture to promote and assist
agriculture in the state;
(B) The sale of agricultural products, commodities, and
services; and
(C) Capital investment in agricultural projects by providing capital and credit within the financial means of persons engaged in
agriculture in the state.
§19-32-4. West Virginia Agricultural Resource-Based Industry
Development Corporation.
(a) There is a West Virginia Agricultural and Resource-Based
Industry Development Corporation.
(b) The corporation is;
(1) A public corporation; and
(2) An instrumentality of the state.
(c) The purpose of the corporation is to:
(1) Assist the viability of the state's diverse agricultural
industry through new markets development, capital and credit
enhancements, and technical and other assistance to support, create
and sustain agricultural businesses throughout the state;
(2) Provide financing and other assistance for product
development, start-up and scale-up of West Virginia food and
fiber-related growing and processing operations and for
technological enhancements that benefit the environment and water
quality;
(3) Seek partnerships and leveraging opportunities with public
and private for-profit and not-for-profit entities in making
capital and credit assistance available to individual producers,
producer cooperatives and other agribusiness concerns operating in
the state;
(4) Facilitate and support access to high quality technical
resources for agricultural entrepreneurs by incorporating existing
support infrastructure including the development of strategic
partnering opportunities and business incubation;
(5) Foster cross-industry communication and assist other
organizations in transferring to the private sector and
commercializing the results and products of the scientific
agricultural research and development conducted by the federal
government and colleges and universities; and
(6) Work with public and private lending and grant-making
institutions to:
(A) Make low and no-interest loans and loan guarantees
available for agricultural product development, primary processing
and secondary manufacturing;
(B) Provide credit and capital to first-time farmers for land,
equipment and working capital acquisition; and
(C) Make incentives available for activities related to small
farm or small landowner viability and best management practices.
§19-32-5. Board of Directors.
(a)(1) There is a board of directors of the corporation.
(2) The board manages the corporation and exercises all of its
corporate powers.
(b) The board consists of the following members:
(1) As ex officio members:
(A) The Commissioner of Agriculture or a designee of the
secretary who must be a senior-level departmental official;
(B) The Director of the Division of Natural Resources or a
designee of the secretary who must be a senior-level departmental
official;
(C) The Secretary of the Department of Administration or a
designee of the secretary who must be a senior-level departmental
official; and
(2) Eleven individuals appointed by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate as follows:
(A) Two agricultural producers representing at least two
different farm commodity industries in the state;
(B) Two representatives from commercial lending institutions
serving rural regions in the state, one of whom must represent a
major farm credit organization operating in the state;
(C) One representative of the timber and forest products
industry;
(D) One representative of the aquaculture industry;
(E) One individual with knowledge and experience in the area
of operating commercial food or fiber processing facilities;
(F) One individual with knowledge and experience in the area
of public finance;
(G) One individual with knowledge and experience in the area
of rural economic development or agricultural marketing; and
(H) One member from the general population who is over the age
of sixty-five.
(c)(1) In appointing board members under subsection (b)(2) of
this section, the Governor shall consider all of the geographic
regions of the state.
(2) A board member must be a resident of the state.
(3) A board member:
(A) Serves without compensation; but
(B) Is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the
standard state travel regulations and provided in the state budget.
(4) The Governor may remove a board member for incompetence,
misconduct, or failure to perform the duties of the position.
(d)(1) The term of a board member appointed under subsection
(a)(2) of this section is four years.
(2) The terms of the appointed members are staggered as
required by the terms provided for the members on the first day of
July, two thousand five.
(3) At the end of a term, an appointed member continues to
serve until a successor is appointed and qualifies.
(4) A member who is appointed after a term has begun serves
only for the rest of the term and until a successor is appointed
and qualifies.
(e) The board shall elect a chair from among its members.
(f) The board may act with an affirmative vote of nine members.
§19-32-6. Executive Director.
The corporation shall employ an executive director with
experience and qualifications relevant to the activities and the
purposes of the corporation.
§19-32-7. Attorney General as legal advisor.
The Attorney General shall serve as legal advisor to the
corporation.
§19-32-8. General powers of the corporation.
The corporation may:
(a) Adopt bylaws;
(b) Adopt a seal;
(c) Maintain offices at a place in the state that the
corporation designates;
(d) Apply for and accept loans, grants, or assistance in any
form from federal, state, or local governments, colleges or
universities, or private sources;
(e) Make, execute, and enter into any contracts or legal
instruments;
(f) Sue or be sued;
(g) Acquire, construct, develop, manage, market, manufacture,
license, sublicense, reconstruct, rehabilitate, improve, maintain,
equip, lease as a lessor or as a lessee, repair, and operate any
project in the state to carry out the purposes of the corporation;
(h) Acquire, purchase, hold, lease as a lessee, and use a
franchise, patent, or license and real, personal, mixed, or
tangible or intangible property, or any interest in property;
(i) Sell, lease as a lessor, transfer, license, sublicense,
assign, and dispose of any property or interest in property,
necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes;
(j) Acquire, directly or indirectly, by purchase, gift, or
devise, land, real or personal property, rights, right-of-way,
franchises, easements, and other interests in land, including land
lying under water riparian rights, located in or outside the state
as necessary or convenient to construct, improve, rehabilitate, or
operate a project, on terms and at prices the corporation considers
reasonable;
(k) Fix, revise, and collect rates, rentals, fees, royalties,
and charges for the use of or for services and resources provided
or made available by the corporation;
(l) Make grants to or provide equity investment financing for
agricultural and resource-based businesses;
(m) Engage any necessary accountants, engineers, financial
advisors, and other consultants;
(n) With the approval of the Attorney General, engage any
necessary lawyers;
(o) Create, own, control, or be a member of a corporation,
limited liability company, partnership, or other entity, whether operated for-profit or not-for-profit;
(p) Enter into a project with a manufacturer to carry out the
purposes of the corporation;
(q) Exercise a power usually possessed by a private
corporation in performing similar functions unless to do so would
conflict with the laws of the state; and
(r) Do anything necessary or convenient to carry out the
powers granted by this subtitle.
§19-32-9. Powers of corporation to conduct business.
The corporation may:
(a) Subject to the rights or holders of bonds of the
corporation:
(1) Renegotiate, refinance, or foreclose on any mortgage,
security interest, or lien;
(2) Commence any action to protect or enforce any right or
benefit conferred on the corporation by any law, mortgage, security
interest, lien, contract, or other agreement; and
(3) Bid for and purchase property at any foreclosure or at any
other sale or otherwise acquire or take possession of any property,
in which case the corporation may complete, administer, pay the
principal of any interest on any obligation incurred in connection
with the property, dispose of and otherwise deal with the property
in any manner necessary or desirable to protect the interest of the
corporation of the holders of its bonds in the property;
(b) Procure or provide for the procurement of insurance or
reinsurance against any loss in connection with its property or
operations, including insurance, reinsurance, or other guarantees
from any federal or state governmental unit or private insurance
company for the payment of any bonds issued by the corporation, or
bonds, notes or any other obligations or evidences of indebtedness
issued or made by any lending institution or other entity or
person, or insurance or reinsurance against loss with respect to
agricultural loans, mortgages or mortgage loans, or any other type
of loans, including the power to pay premiums on the insurance or
reinsurance;
(c) Insure, coinsure, reinsure, or cause to be insured,
coinsured, or reinsured, agricultural loans, mortgage loans or
mortgages, or any other type of loans and pay or receive premiums
on the insurance, coinsurance, or reinsurance, and establish
reserves for losses, and participate in the insurance, coinsurance,
or reinsurance of agricultural loans, mortgage or mortgages, or any
other type of loans with the federal of state government or any
private insurance company;
(d) Undertake and carry out or authorize the completion of
studies and analyses of agricultural conditions and needs in the
state and needs relating to the promotion of agricultural
industries and ways of meeting those needs, and make the studies
and analyses available to the public and to the agricultural industries, and to engage in research or disseminate information on
agriculture and agricultural marketing and promotion;
(e) Accept federal, state, or private financial or technical
assistance and comply with any conditions for that assistance that
are not in conflict with the intent of this subtitle;
(f) Establish and collect fees and charges in connection with
its loans, deposits, insurance commitments, and services, including
reimbursement of costs of issuing bonds, origination and servicing
fees and insurance premiums;
(g) Make loans to or deposits with lending institutions and
purchase or sell agricultural loans;
(h) Acquire or contract to acquire from any person, by grant,
purchase, or otherwise, immovable property or any interest in
property;
(i) Own, hold, clear, improve, lease, construct, or
rehabilitate, and sell, invest, assign, exchange, transfer, convey,
lease, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of or encumber property,
subject to the rights of holders of the bonds of the corporation,
at public or private sale, with or without public bidding;
(j) Borrow money, issue bonds, and provide for the rights of
the lenders or holder thereof and purchase, discount, sell,
negotiate and guarantee, insure, coinsure and reinsure notes,
drafts, checks, bills of exchange, acceptances, bankers'
acceptances, cable transfers, letters of credit, and other evidence of indebtedness;
(k) Subject to the rights of holders of the bonds of the
corporation, consent to any modification with respect to the rate
of interest, time, payment of any installment of principal or
interest, security, or any other term or condition of any loan,
contract, mortgage, mortgage loan, or commitment or agreement of
any kind to which the corporation is a party or beneficiary; and
(l) Issue revenue bonds under section eleven of this article.
§19-32-10. Power to make loans.
(a)(1) The corporation may purchase or contract to purchase
and sell or contract to sell agricultural loans made by lending
institutions, at the prices and on the terms and conditions that it
determines.
(2) A lending institution may purchase and sell agricultural
loans to the corporation in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(b)(1) The corporation may make, or contract to make, loans to
and deposits with lending institutions at interest rates, terms and
conditions that it determines.
(2) A lending institution may borrow funds and accept deposits
from the corporation in accordance with this subtitle and the
bylaws of the corporation.
(3) The corporation shall require that all proceeds of its
loans to or deposits with lending institutions, or an equivalent amount, shall be used by the lending institutions to make
agricultural loans, subject to terms and conditions that the
corporation may prescribe.
(c) The corporation may insure and reinsure agricultural loans
made by lending institutions, subject to the terms, conditions,
limitations, collateral and security provisions, and reserve
requirements determined by the corporation in accordance with the
bylaws of the corporation.
(d) Unless otherwise determined by the corporation,
agricultural loans shall be insured to the amount of one hundred
percent of the unpaid principal and interest on each loan.
(e) An insured agricultural loan is in default when the holder
of the loan applies to the corporation for payment of insurance on
the loan stating that the loan is in default in accordance with the
terms of any agreement with respect to the insurance executed in
accordance with this section.
(f) The corporation may enter into agreements with any person,
lending institution, or holder of an insured agricultural loan on
terms that may be agreed on between the corporation and the person,
lending institution; or holder, to:
(1) Provide for the administration, applications, and
repayment of the loan; and
(2) Establish the conditions for payment of insurance by the
corporation, and the servicing, suit on, or foreclosure of the loan.
(g)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection,
the aggregate value of all agricultural loans insured by the
corporation and outstanding at any one time may not exceed twenty
times the total value of funds, investments, properties, and other
assets of the corporation.
(2) The aggregate value of agricultural loans insured and
outstanding may be further expanded by use of federal, state, or
private loan insurance, reinsurance, or guarantees of which the
corporation is or shall become the beneficiary.
§19-32-11. Power to issue bonds.
(a) The corporation may provide by resolution for the issuance
at one time, or in series from time to time, of revenue bonds of
the corporation to finance or refinance all or a part of the costs
of a project, and for other purposes of the corporation stated in
this subtitle.
(b)(1) The bonds shall be dated, shall bear interest at a rate
or rates, and shall mature at a time or times not exceeding forty
years from the date or dates of their respective issues, as the
corporation may determine, and may be sold at the price or prices
and under the terms and conditions fixed by the corporation before
issuing the bonds.
(2) The proceeds of any bonds may be placed in escrow pending
application of the proceeds to the purposes for which the bonds are issued.
(c)(1)(A) The bonds may not be considered to constitute a
debt, liability, or a pledge of the full faith and credit of the
state or of any political subdivision of the state other than the
corporation.
(B) The bonds shall be payable solely from the funds provided
in this section.
(2) All bonds of the corporation shall contain on their face
a statement to the effect that:
(A) Neither the state nor any political subdivision of the
state other than the corporation shall be obligated to pay the bond
or the interest on the bond except from revenues pledged to the
bond; and
(B) Neither the full faith and credit nor the taxing power of
the state or any political subdivision of the state is pledged to
the payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds.
(3)(A) The issuance of a bond under this subtitle is not
directly or indirectly or contingently an obligation, moral, or
other, of the state or any political subdivision of the state to
levy or pledge any form of taxation for the bond or to make any
appropriation for payment of the bond.
(B) Nothing in this section may prevent the corporation from
pledging the full faith and credit of the corporation to the
payment of a bond authorized under this subtitle.
(C) This section does not limit the ability of the state or a
subdivision of the state to set, impose, or collect an assessment,
rate, fee, or charge to pay to the corporation the cost of a
project, including the principal of and interest on a bond, under
an agreement between the corporation and the state or political
subdivision.
(d) The corporation shall determine:
(1) The form of the bonds;
(2) The manner of executing the bonds;
(3) The denomination or denominations of the bonds; and
(4) The places or payment of principal and interest, which may
be a bank or trust company in or outside the state.
(e)(1) The bonds shall be executed in the manner determined by
the corporation.
(2) The bonds may be executed by facsimile signature.
(3) If any officer whose signature appears on a bond ceases to
hold that office before the bonds are delivered, the signature of
the officer remains valid and sufficient for all purposes, as if
the officer had remained in office until delivery.
(f)(1) All bonds issued under this section are negotiable
instruments under the laws of the state.
(2) Provision may be made for the registration of bonds.
(g) The bonds shall be sold by the corporation, at public or
private sale, in a manner and for a price as the corporation may determine.
(h)(1)(A) The corporation may provide for the issuance of its
bonds to refunding any outstanding bonds, including the payment of
any redemption premium and any interest accrued or accruing to a
later date of redemption, purchase, or maturity of the bonds, and,
if the corporation determines it advisable, for the additional
purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of a project.
(B) Refunding bonds may be issued by the corporation for any
corporate purpose, including the public purposes of realizing
savings in the effective costs of debt service, directly or through
a debt restructuring, or alleviating an impending or actual
default, or relieving the corporation of contractual agreements
which, in the opinion of the corporation, have become unreasonably
onerous, impracticable, or impossible to perform.
(C) Refunding bonds in one or more series may be issued in an
amount in excess of that of the bonds to be refunded.
(D) Refunding bonds may be payable from:
(i) Escrowed bond proceeds;
(ii) Interest, income, and profits, if any, on investments;
and
(iii) Any other source.
(E) These sources may be in addition to other lawful uses and
shall constitute revenues of a project under this subtitle.
(2) The proceeds of bonds issued for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds may in the discretion of the corporation, be
applied to the purchase or retirement at maturity or redemption of
the outstanding bonds on any subsequent redemption date, and may,
pending that application, be placed in escrow to be applied to the
purchase or retirement at maturity or redemption on a date
determined by the corporation.
(3)(A) Any escrowed bond proceeds, pending application, may be
invested and reinvested in investments and other obligations
maturing at a time or times appropriate to assure the prompt
payment, as to principal, interest, and redemption premium, if any,
of the outstanding bonds to be refunded.
(B) The investment of the bond proceeds shall be:
(i) Determined by the corporation; or
(ii) If the proceeds of the bonds are being loaned by the
corporation to a person under section ten of this article.
(C) The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or
realized on the investments or other obligations may be applied to
the payment of the outstanding bonds to be refunded.
(D) After the terms of the escrow have been fully satisfied
and carried out, any balance of the proceeds and interest, income,
and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investments or other
obligations may be returned to the corporation or the person being
loaned the proceeds of the bonds for use in any lawful manner.
(i)(1) The portion of the proceeds of any bonds issued for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of a project may be
invested and reinvested in investments and any other obligations
maturing not later than the time or times when the proceeds will be
needed for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of the
project.
(2) The investment of bond proceeds shall be determined:
(A) By the corporation; or
(B If the corporation is loaning the proceeds to a person
under section ten of this section, by the person.
(3) The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or
realized on the investments or other obligations may be applied to
the payment of all or any part of the cost or may be used by the
corporation or the person being loaned the proceeds of the bonds in
any lawful manner.
(j)(1) The corporation may pledge or assign all or any portion
of its revenues, its rights to receive them, or moneys and
securities in the funds and accounts established to secure its
bonds and any lien or security interest granted or assignment made
by the corporation.
(2) Any pledge or assignment shall be:
(A Valid and binding against any person having a claim of any
kind against the corporation, in contract, tort, or otherwise,
regardless of whether the person has notice; and
(B) Prior to claim.
(3) No resolution, trust indenture, assignment, financing
agreement, or other instrument creating a lien on security interest
in, or assignment or any revenues, its rights to receive revenues
or moneys and securities in the funds and accounts pledged to bonds
of the corporation need be filed or recorded except in the records
of the corporation.
(k) (1) The corporation may:
(A) Lend or otherwise make available the proceeds of its bonds
to any person in order to finance or refinance the costs of any
project; and
(B) Enter into financing agreements, mortgages and other
instruments that corporation determines to be necessary or
desirable to evidence or secure the loan.
(2) If any project is leased to any person, the lease may
provide that the lessor or another person may or shall purchase or
otherwise acquire the project for consideration, which may be
nominal, as the corporation may establish:
(A) On the payment of the bonds that financed or refinanced
the cost of the project and interest on the bonds; or
(B) On provision for payment that is satisfactory to the
corporation.
(l)(1)(A) At the discretion of the corporation, the bonds may
be secured by a trust indenture by and between the corporation and
corporate trustee, which may be any trust company or bank that has the powers of a trust company in or outside the state.
(B) Either the resolution providing for the issuance of bonds
or the trust indenture may contain provisions for protecting and
enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders, including
covenants stating the duties of the corporation in relation to the
custody, safeguarding, and application of all moneys.
(C) A corporation or trust company incorporated under the laws
of the state may:
(i) Act as depository of the proceeds of the bonds or
revenues; and
(ii) Furnish any indemnity bonds or pledge any securities that
the corporation requires.
§19-32-12. Tax exemption.
(a) The corporation is exempt from state and local taxes.
(b)(1) The corporation may receive annual funding through an
appropriation in the state budget.
(2) The corporation may also receive funds for projects
included in the budgets of state units.
(3) All unexpended and unencumbered funds appropriated to the
corporation shall remain with the corporation for future uses.
(4) The corporation shall conduct its financial affairs in
such a manner that, by the year two thousand twenty, it shall be
self-sufficient and in no further need of general operating support
by the state.
(c) The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Natural
Resources, the West Virginia Department of Administration, and the
West Virginia Economic Development Authority may provide technical
and other support to the corporation.
(d) Each unit in the executive branch of state government and
each institution of higher education in the state may work with the
corporation on matters relating to the unit.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Rural West
Virginia Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development
Corporation, which makes loans, issues bonds, and acquires and
disposes of property to develop agricultural and resource based
industry.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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