2020 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 51 - Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Chapter 17 - Heritage Trust Program
Section 51-17-320. Power to issue bonds; purpose.

(A) The board may issue bonds in the name of the trustees for the purposes and in the manner provided in this section. The title of the bonds shall be designated by the board acting as the trustees.

(B) All bonds must be secured by and payable from only the Heritage Land Trust portion of the state deed recording fee, or that portion as the board determines to pledge for payment.

(C) The trustees or a person executing the bonds or notes are not liable personally on the bonds or notes and are not subject to personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

(D) The board acting as the trustees may not pledge the faith, credit, or taxing power of this State or its political subdivisions in connection with the issuance of the bonds, and each bond must recite on its face that it is a special source bond of the trustees issued pursuant to and in accordance with this article and Article X, Section 13(9) of the Constitution of this State, that it is secured by and payable from only the Heritage Land Trust portion of the state deed recording fee, that it is neither a general, legal, nor moral obligation of the State or its political subdivisions, and that it is not backed by the full faith, credit, or taxing power of this State or any of its political subdivisions. Failure to include this language on the face of a bond does not cause the bond to become a general, legal, or moral obligation of the State or its political subdivisions or a pledge of the full faith, credit, or taxing power of this State or its political subdivisions.

(E) A pledge of the Heritage Land Trust portion of the state deed recording fee made by the board acting as the trustees is valid and binding from the time the pledge is made. The trust portion of the state deed recording fee received by the Heritage Land Trust Fund is immediately subject to the lien of the pledge without physical delivery of the receipt or further act. The lien of the pledge is valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the trustees, whether or not the parties have notice of them. The resolution of the board or other instrument by which a pledge is created must not be recorded or filed to perfect the pledge. In the resolution of the board authorizing the issuance of a bond pursuant to this article, the board shall provide for the priority of payment of the bond from all monies received by the Heritage Land Trust Fund as its portion of the state deed recording fee.

(F) The trustees may not issue a bond with a scheduled maturity later than thirty years after the date of issuance.

(G) When issuing bonds for the purpose described in this article, the trustees may sell bonds either in a negotiated transaction with one or more lead underwriters selected by the board acting as the trustees on the basis of criteria established by the board acting as the trustees, or through a competitive bidding process in accordance with procedures established by the board. The determination of whether to sell bonds through negotiation or through competitive bidding must be made by the board.

(H) The trustees may not issue a bond unless the board has first adopted its resolution authorizing the issuance, finding that the issuance and the proposed use of the bond proceeds is in accordance with this chapter, and setting out the terms and conditions of the bond and the covenants of the trustees with respect to the bond. These terms must include the issuance date or dates, the maturity date or dates, the principal amount, the interest rate or the means of determining it, whether fixed or variable, the time, manner, and currency for paying interest and principal, the negotiability of the bond, and restrictions relating to the registration of the bond. The covenants may include, without limitation, the establishment and maintenance of dedicated reserve funds for the payment of debt service on a bond if the Heritage Land Trust portion of the state deed recording fee is inadequate in any year, restrictions on the later issuance of additional bonds or making the later issuance subject to certain conditions relating to available debt service coverage or otherwise, or other matter that the board considers appropriate, subject to subsection (I) of this section. A bond of the trustees must be approved also by the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, after review by the Joint Bond Review Committee pursuant to Section 2-47-30 of the 1976 Code, before it is delivered.

(I) The board may not authorize or cause the trustees to enter into a covenant that purports to create a general, legal, or moral obligation of this State or its political subdivisions or to pledge the full faith, credit, or taxing power of the State or its political subdivisions. A covenant in violation of this subsection is void and of no effect.

(J) Subject to the requirements of this section, the board acting as the trustees may authorize the issuance of bonds of the trustees for the purpose of:

(1) refunding, on a current or advance-refunding basis, outstanding bonds of the trustees; or

(2) obtaining funds for delivery to the Heritage Land Trust Fund. Proceeds of bonds issued for this purpose must be delivered promptly to the Heritage Land Trust Fund and used only for the purposes provided in Section 51-17-115 of the 1976 Code, except as needed to defray the costs of issuance of the bonds or to establish a reserve fund for the bonds.

(K) The bonds and the issuance of the bonds pursuant to this article are subject to the provisions of Sections 11-15-20 and 11-15-30 of the 1976 Code and any successor provisions.

HISTORY: 2006 Act No. 251, Section 2.B, eff March 28, 2006.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to the offices of the former State Budget and Control Board, Office of the Governor, or other agencies, were changed to reflect the transfer of them to the Department of Administration or other entities, pursuant to the directive of the South Carolina Restructuring Act, 2014 Act No. 121, Section 5(D)(1), effective July 1, 2015.