In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Authority” means an industrial development authority established in accordance with § 12-105 of this subtitle. “Bond” means a revenue bond, note, or other instrument, certificate, or evidence of obligation that is issued and sold by a public body under this subtitle to finance a facility or to refund an outstanding bond. “Bond” includes: a bond anticipation note; and a note in the nature of commercial paper. “Chief executive” means the president, chair, mayor, county executive, or any other chief executive officer of a public body. “Facility” means any land or an interest in land, structure, working capital, equipment, or other property, or any combination of them, the acquisition or improvement of which the legislative body of a county or municipal corporation, the board of directors of an authority, or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority, in its sole discretion, determines by resolution will accomplish one or more of the legislative purposes listed in § 12-103(b) of this subtitle. “Facility applicant” means a person, public or private corporation, or other entity, whether for–profit or nonprofit, that, by letter of intent or similar agreement with a public body, requests the public body to participate in financing a facility under this subtitle for use by a facility user. “Facility user” means a person, public or private corporation, or other entity, whether for–profit or nonprofit, that owns, leases, or uses all or part of a facility. “Facility user” may include a facility applicant. “Finance” includes refinance. “Finance board” means a unit or instrumentality of a county or municipal corporation that is authorized by statute or charter to issue and sell bonds of the county or municipal corporation. “Finance board” does not include the legislative body of a county or municipal corporation. “Improve” means to add, alter, construct, equip, expand, extend, improve, install, reconstruct, rehabilitate, remodel, or repair. “Improvement” means addition, alteration, construction, equipping, expansion, extension, improvement, installation, reconstruction, rehabilitation, remodeling, or repair. “Public body” means: a county; a municipal corporation; an authority; or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority. “Public port” means the public ports and harbors on the Chesapeake Bay or the Isle of Wight Bay and their tributaries in the State. “Public port” includes: the Baltimore Harbor (the Patapsco River and its tributaries north and west of North Point and Bodkin Point); the Port of Cambridge (the south side of the Choptank River between Hambrook’s Bar and the Emerson C. Harrington Bridge); and the Port of Crisfield (the Little Annemessex River east of James Island).

This subtitle shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purposes. A facility is not a capital project of a public body within the meaning of any statutory or charter provision. This subtitle does not authorize a county or municipal corporation to acquire a facility by eminent domain.

The General Assembly finds that: conditions of unemployment exist in many areas of the State; the acquisition and improvement of facilities are essential to relieve this unemployment and to establish a balanced economy in the State; the present and prospective health, happiness, safety, right of gainful employment, and general welfare of the residents of the State will be promoted by the acquisition and improvement of facilities; the control or abatement of pollution of the environment of the State, including noise pollution, is necessary to: retain existing industry and commerce in and attract new industry and commerce to the State; protect the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the State; protect the natural resources of the State; and encourage the economic development of the State; and the public ports of the State are assets of value to the entire State; the residents of the entire State benefit directly from the waterborne commerce that the public ports attract and service; and any improvement of public ports that increases their export and import commerce will benefit the residents of the entire State. The legislative purposes of this subtitle are to: relieve conditions of unemployment in the State; encourage the increase of industry and commerce and a balanced economy in the State; assist in the retention of existing industry and commerce in, and the attraction of new industry and commerce to, the State through, among other things, the development of ports, the control or abatement of environmental pollution, and the use and disposal of waste; promote economic development; protect natural resources and encourage resource recovery; and promote the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the State.

It is the policy of the State to allow the exercise of the powers granted by this subtitle even though the activities authorized may displace or limit free economic competition.

To accomplish one or more of the legislative purposes listed in § 12-103(b) of this subtitle, the legislative body of a county or municipal corporation may adopt a resolution to create an industrial development authority in accordance with this subtitle. A resolution adopted under subsection (a), (f), or (g) of this section: is administrative in nature; is not subject to referendum; and in a county or municipal corporation that has a publicly elected chief executive, is subject to approval by the chief executive. Subsection (a) of this section is self-executing and fully authorizes a county or municipal corporation to establish an authority, notwithstanding any other statutory or charter provision. A resolution adopted under subsection (a) of this section shall include proposed articles of incorporation of the authority that state: the name of the authority, which shall be “Industrial Development Authority of (name of the incorporating county or municipal corporation)”; that the authority is formed under this subtitle; the names, addresses, and terms of office of the initial members of the board of directors of the authority; the address of the principal office of the authority; the purposes for which the authority is formed; and the powers of the authority subject to the limitations on the powers of an authority under this subtitle. The chief executive of the incorporating county or municipal corporation, or any other official designated in the resolution establishing the authority, shall execute and file the articles of incorporation of the authority for record with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. When the State Department of Assessments and Taxation accepts the articles of incorporation for record, the authority becomes a body politic and corporate and an instrumentality of the incorporating county or municipal corporation. Acceptance of the articles of incorporation for record by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation is conclusive evidence of the formation of the authority. By resolution, the legislative body of the incorporating county or municipal corporation may adopt an amendment to the articles of incorporation of the authority. Articles of amendment may contain any provision that lawfully could be contained in articles of incorporation at the time of the amendment. The articles of amendment shall be filed for record with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. The articles of amendment are effective as of the time the State Department of Assessments and Taxation accepts the articles for record. Acceptance of the articles of amendment for record by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation is conclusive evidence that the articles have been lawfully and properly adopted. Subject to the provisions of this section and any limitations imposed by law on the impairment of contracts, the incorporating county or municipal corporation, in its sole discretion, by resolution may: set or change the structure, organization, procedures, programs, or activities of the authority; or terminate the authority. On termination of an authority: title to all property of the authority shall be transferred to and vest in the incorporating county or municipal corporation; and all obligations of the authority shall be transferred to and assumed by the incorporating county or municipal corporation.

Subject to paragraph (4) of this subsection, the board of directors of an authority consists of five members appointed by the legislative body of the incorporating county or municipal corporation. Appointment procedures shall be provided in the resolution establishing the authority. In a county or municipal corporation that has a publicly elected chief executive, the chief executive shall submit nominations for the initial board members. The chief executive may nominate more than one individual for an initial board member position. An officer or employee of the incorporating county or municipal corporation may not be appointed to the board but, if provided by resolution, may serve as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the board. The initial five members of the board of directors of an authority shall be appointed for staggered terms, ranging from 1 to 5 years, respectively, beginning on the date the State Department of Assessments and Taxation accepts the articles of incorporation of the authority for record. Except as provided for initial board members, the term of an appointed member is 5 years. At the end of a term, an appointed member continues to serve until a successor is appointed. A member who is appointed after a term has begun serves only for the rest of the term and until a successor is appointed. In a county or municipal corporation that has a publicly elected chief executive, the chief executive shall submit nominations for vacancies on the board. The chief executive may nominate more than one individual for a vacancy. A member may be removed at any time with or without cause. Procedures for removal shall be those provided in the resolution establishing the authority or a subsequent resolution. From among its members, the board shall elect a chair and other officers. An ex officio member may hold any office other than chair. Three voting members of the board are a quorum. The board may act on a resolution only by the affirmative vote of at least three voting members. A member of the board: may not receive compensation as a member of the board; but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in performing the member’s duties. The board shall exercise its powers by resolution.

The board of directors of an authority shall govern the authority. Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle or the resolution establishing the authority, the procedures of the incorporating county or municipal corporation control any matter relating to the internal administration of the authority.

Except as necessary to pay debt service or implement the public purposes or programs of the incorporating county or municipal corporation, the net earnings of an authority may benefit only the incorporating county or municipal corporation and may not benefit any person.

Except as limited by its articles of incorporation, an authority has all the powers set forth in this subtitle. An authority may: receive money from its incorporating county or municipal corporation, the State, other governmental units, or nonprofit organizations; charge fees for its services; have employees and consultants as it considers necessary; and use the services of other governmental units. For the purposes of this subtitle, each county and municipal corporation has all the powers granted in this subtitle to an authority, including the power to make loans to private enterprises competing with enterprises not receiving the loans. An authority shall operate and exercise its powers solely to accomplish one or more of the legislative purposes of this subtitle. The incorporating county or municipal corporation may use the authority’s exercise of its powers to accomplish one or more of the legislative purposes. An authority or an incorporating county or municipal corporation may exercise its powers regardless of any effect on economic competition. The powers granted to a county or municipal corporation under paragraph (2) of this subsection do not: grant to the county or municipal corporation powers in any substantive area not otherwise granted to the county or municipal corporation under other public general or public local law; restrict the county or municipal corporation from exercising any power granted to the county or municipal corporation under other public general or public local law or otherwise; authorize the county or municipal corporation, or the officers of the county or municipal corporation, to engage in an activity that is beyond the power granted under other public general or public local law or otherwise; or preempt or supersede the regulatory authority of a unit of State government under a public general law. The incorporating county or municipal corporation is not precluded from directly exercising the powers granted to an authority under this subtitle after the establishment of the authority.

Notwithstanding any limitation of law, a public body may issue and sell bonds periodically to accomplish the legislative purposes of this subtitle. A public body may issue and sell bonds to: subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, finance the costs of the acquisition or improvement of a facility for a facility user, including working capital; refund outstanding bonds; pay the costs of preparing, printing, selling, and issuing the bonds; fund reserves; and pay the interest on the bonds in the amount and for the period the public body considers reasonable. A public body may not issue bonds to acquire working capital unless the bonds are secured by a letter of credit or an interest in property. Working capital acquired by issuing bonds may not exceed 25% of the principal amount of the bonds. Bonds are limited obligations and are not a pledge of the faith and credit or taxing power of the public body. Bonds issued by an authority are issued on behalf of the public body that established the authority. Bonds issued by the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority: are issued on behalf of the State; and shall be issued in accordance with the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority Act, Title 5, Subtitle 7 of this article. A bond: may be in bearer form; may be registrable as to principal alone or as to both principal and interest; and is a “security” as defined by § 8-102 of the Commercial Law Article, whether or not the bond is one of a class or series or is divisible into a class or series of instruments. A bond shall be signed by the chief executive or by an officer designated by resolution of the public body. A bond may be executed by facsimile signature in accordance with § 2-303 of the State Finance and Procurement Article. The seal of the public body shall be affixed to the bond and attested by the clerk or similar administrative officer of the public body designated by resolution. An officer’s signature or countersignature on a bond or coupon remains valid even if the officer leaves office before the bond is delivered. Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, a bond shall mature not later than 30 years after its date of issue. If a bond is secured by a mortgage insured by a unit of the federal government, the bond shall have a term of maturity that does not exceed the term of the insurance. A public body may acquire or improve a facility with bond proceeds: by leasing the facility to a facility user; by selling the facility to a facility user under an installment sale agreement; by lending bond proceeds to a facility user to be used to finance a facility; or in any other manner that the public body considers appropriate to accomplish the legislative purposes of this subtitle. The lease of a facility under this subtitle may authorize or require the facility user to acquire the facility on payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds applicable to the facility user. The consideration for the acquisition of the facility may be nominal.

For each issue of its bonds, the legislative body of a county or municipal corporation, the board of directors of an authority, or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority, shall adopt a resolution that: specifies and describes the facility; generally describes the public purpose to be served and the financing transaction; specifies the maximum principal amount of the bonds that may be issued; and imposes terms or conditions on the issuance and sale of bonds it considers appropriate. The legislative body of a county or municipal corporation, the board of directors of an authority, or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority, by resolution, may: specify, determine, prescribe, and approve matters, documents, and procedures that relate to the authorization, sale, security, issuance, delivery, and payment of and for the bonds; create security for the bonds; provide for the administration of bond issues through trust or other agreements with a bank or trust company that cover a countersignature on a bond, the delivery of a bond, or the security for a bond; and take other action it considers appropriate concerning the bonds. The legislative body of a county or municipal corporation, the board of directors of an authority, or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority may authorize a designee to exercise the powers provided under paragraph (1) of this subsection. A designee may be: a finance board, which shall act by resolution; the chief executive, who shall act by executive order or otherwise; or any other appropriate administrative officer, who shall act by order or otherwise with the approval of the chief executive. Subject to the limitations of this subtitle and the limitations the legislative body prescribes by resolution, a chief executive or an administrative officer acting under a resolution of a legislative body shall exercise the authority granted: to accomplish the legislative purposes of this subtitle; and to accomplish the public purposes of the resolution that the legislative body adopts. A resolution or trust agreement may contain a pledge or assignment of revenues received from the financing of a facility. The lien of the pledge or assignment made is valid and binding against a person with a claim against the public body, whether or not the person has notice of the lien. Notwithstanding any other public general or public local law, a public body need not file or record a resolution, trust agreement, lease, installment sale agreement, loan agreement, or other instrument that it adopts or makes under this subtitle, except in the records of the public body. A resolution adopted under this section: is administrative in nature; is not subject to procedures required for legislative acts; is not subject to referendum; and in a county or municipal corporation that has a publicly elected chief executive, is subject to approval by the chief executive. This authorization is self-executing, and fully authorizes a public body to issue and sell bonds, notwithstanding any other statutory or charter provision.

Bonds shall be sold in the manner, at competitive or negotiated sale, and on the terms at, above, or below par, that the public body considers best. A contract to acquire or improve a facility may provide that payment shall be made in bonds. A bond is not subject to the limitations of §§ 19–205 and 19–206 of the Local Government Article.

A bond and the interest on a bond are limited obligations of the public body. Except for bond anticipation notes and notes in the nature of commercial paper, the principal of, premium, and interest on a bond are payable solely from: money from the financing of a facility; or other money made available to the public body. Bonds and the interest on them: are not debts or charges against the general credit or taxing powers of a public body within the meaning of any constitutional or charter provision or statutory limitation; and may not give rise to any pecuniary liability of an issuing public body. A bond may state on its face that the bond: is issued under this subtitle; and is not a debt to which the public body’s faith and credit is pledged. On default in the payment of the principal of or interest on a bond, a court with jurisdiction: may appoint a receiver or take other appropriate action to provide for the payment of the bond; and shall apply any available revenue as this subtitle or a resolution adopted under this subtitle provides.

A finding by the legislative body of a county or municipal corporation, the board of directors of an authority, or the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority as to the public purpose of an action taken under this subtitle, and the appropriateness of that action to serve the public purpose, is conclusive in a proceeding involving the validity or enforceability of a bond, or security for a bond, issued under this subtitle.

Instead of the procedures under this subtitle, a municipal corporation, by charter amendment adopted under Title 4, Subtitle 3 of the Local Government Article, or a charter county, by charter amendment adopted under Article XI–A of the Maryland Constitution, may provide for the issuance of revenue bonds under the terms and conditions that the municipal corporation or charter county considers appropriate to achieve the legislative purposes of this subtitle.

The principal of and interest on bonds, the transfer of bonds, and any income derived from the bonds, including profits made in their sale or transfer, are forever exempt from State and local taxes.

This section applies to a lease or contract under which: the State or a unit of the State will be an initial user or occupant of a facility financed by bonds issued under this subtitle; or a facility financed by bonds issued under this subtitle will be built on property owned by the State. The State or a unit of the State may not enter into a lease or contract that is subject to this section and that forms a part of the security for bonds issued under this subtitle unless: the Legislative Policy Committee has authorized the facility as being consistent with the capital budget; and the Board of Public Works specifically has approved the bond issue for that facility.

This subtitle may be cited as the Maryland Economic Development Revenue Bond Act.