Sec. 10-56. Corporate powers. Bond issues.
Sec. 10-56. Corporate powers. Bond issues. (a) A regional school district shall
be a body politic and corporate with power to sue and be sued; to purchase, receive,
hold and convey real and personal property for school purposes; and to build, equip,
purchase, rent, maintain or expand schools. Such district may issue bonds, notes or other
obligations in the name and upon the full faith and credit of such district and the member
towns to acquire land, prepare sites, purchase or erect buildings and equip the same for
school purposes, if so authorized by referendum. Such referendum shall be conducted
in accordance with the procedure provided in section 10-47c except that any person
entitled to vote under section 7-6 may vote and the question shall be determined by the
majority of those persons voting in the regional school district as a whole. The exercise
of any or all of the powers set forth in this section shall not be construed to be an
amendment of a regional plan pursuant to said section 10-47c. A regional board of
education may expend any premium in connection with such issue, interest on the proceeds of such issue or unused portion of such issue to add to the land or buildings erected
or purchased and for the purchasing and installing of equipment for the same. Such
bonds, notes or other obligations shall be issued as either serial or term bonds or both,
in registered form or with coupons attached, registrable as to principal and interest or
as to principal alone, shall be signed by the chairman and the treasurer of the regional
board of education and shall mature at such time or times, or contain provisions for
mandatory amortization of principal at such time or times, be issued at such discount
or bear interest at such rate or rates payable at such time or times, or contain provisions
for the method or manner of determining such rate or rates or time or times at which
interest is payable, and contain such provisions for redemption before maturity at the
option of the issuer or at the option of the holder thereof at such price or prices and
under such terms and conditions as shall be determined by such board, or by such officer
or body to whom the regional board of education delegates the authority to make such
determinations, provided that any serial bonds, notes or other obligations shall be so
arranged to mature in annual or semiannual installments of principal that shall substantially equalize the aggregate amount of principal and interest due in each annual period
commencing with the first annual period in which an installment of principal is due or
maturing in annual or semiannual installments of principal no one of which shall exceed
by more than fifty per cent the amount of any prior installment, and any term bonds,
notes or other obligations, shall be issued with mandatory deposit of sinking fund payments into a sinking fund of amounts sufficient to redeem or amortize the principal
of the bonds in annual or semiannual installments that shall substantially equalize the
aggregate amount of principal redeemed or amortized and interest due in each annual
period commencing with the first annual period in which a mandatory sinking fund
payment becomes due, or sufficient to redeem or amortize the principal of the bonds in
annual or semiannual installments no one of which shall exceed by more than fifty per
cent the amount of any installment. The first installment of any series of bonds shall
mature or the first sinking fund payment of any series of bonds shall be due not later
than three years from the date of issue of such series and the last installment of such
series shall mature or the last sinking fund payment of such series shall be due not
later than twenty years therefrom for any grant commitment authorized by the General
Assembly pursuant to chapter 173 prior to July 1, 1996, and not later than thirty years
therefrom for any grant commitment authorized by the General Assembly pursuant to
said chapter on or after July 1, 1996. Such bonds, notes or other obligations when executed, issued and delivered, shall be general obligations of such district and the member
towns, according to their terms.
(b) "Annual receipts from taxation" means the receipts from taxation of the member
towns for the fiscal year next preceding the beginning of the current fiscal year of such
regional school district. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7-374, any regional
school district may assume bonds, notes or other obligations of any member town as
part of the purchase price of any property for school purposes or issue bonds, notes or
other obligations, provided the aggregate indebtedness of such district shall not exceed:
(1) In the case of a regional school district serving the same towns as are served by
two or more town school districts, two and one-quarter times the annual receipts from
taxation or (2) in the case of a regional school district empowered to provide for the
member towns all programs under the general supervision and control of the State Board
of Education, four and one-half times such annual receipts from taxation. Any regional
school district may issue additional bonds, notes or other obligations in an amount not
to exceed three and one-half times such annual receipts from taxation less the aggregate
indebtedness computed in accordance with section 7-374, for the member towns of
such district. In computing the aggregate indebtedness of a regional school district for
purposes of this section and section 7-374 there shall be excluded each bond, note or
other evidence of indebtedness issued in anticipation of the receipt of (A) payments by
a member town or the state for the operation of such district's schools and (B) proceeds
from any state or federal grant for which the district has received a written commitment
or for which an allocation has been approved by the State Bond Commission or from a
contract with the state, a state agency or another municipality providing for the reimbursement of capital costs but only to the extent such indebtedness can be paid from
such proceeds.
(c) When a district has been authorized to issue general obligation bonds, notes or
other obligations as provided by this section, the board may authorize, for a period not
to exceed ten years, the issue of temporary notes in anticipation of the receipt of the
proceeds from the sale of such bonds. Notes issued for a shorter period of time may be
renewed by the issue of other notes, provided the period from the date of the original
notes to the maturity of the last notes issued in renewal thereof shall not exceed ten
years. The term of such notes shall not be included in computing the time within which
such bonds shall mature, provided such term does not exceed four years. For any series
of notes the term of which is extended past the fourth year, the provisions of section 7-378a providing for the retirement from budgeted funds of one-twentieth, or one-thirtieth,
as applicable, of the net project cost, the reduction of the term of the bonds when sold
and the commencement of the first principal payment of such bonds, shall apply with
respect to each year beyond the fourth that the notes are outstanding. The provisions of
section 7-373 shall be deemed to apply to such notes. The board, or such officer or body
to whom the board delegates the authority to make such determinations, shall determine
the date, maturity, interest rate, form, manner of sale and other terms of such notes which
shall be general obligations of the regional school district and member towns. Such
notes may bear interest or be sold at a discount. The interest or discount on such notes
and any renewals thereof and the expense of preparing, issuing and marketing them
may be included as a part of the cost of the project for the financing of which such bonds
were authorized. Upon the sale of such bonds, the board shall apply immediately the
proceeds thereof, to the extent required, to the payment of the principal and interest of
all notes issued in anticipation thereof or deposit the proceeds in trust for such purpose
with a bank or trust company, which may be the bank or trust company, if any, at which
such notes are payable.
(d) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the board may deposit
or invest the proceeds of bonds, notes or other obligations as permitted in section 7-400
or 7-402.
(1949 Rev., S. 1381; 1951, 1955, S. 911d; 1953, S. 919d; November, 1955, S. N118; February, 1965, P.A. 7; 1967,
P.A. 626, S. 2; 674; 1969, P.A. 132, S. 2; 698, S. 16; P.A. 74-239, S. 1, 2; P.A. 86-350, S. 17, 28; P.A. 87-506, S. 7, 9;
P.A. 89-337, S. 4, 6.; P.A. 93-158, S. 6, 11; P.A. 95-282, S. 6, 11; P.A. 96-244, S. 38, 63; P.A. 99-97, S. 3, 6; June Sp.
Sess. P.A. 05-6, S. 33; P.A. 07-87, S. 3, 4; Nov. 24 Sp. Sess. P.A. 08-2, S. 4.)
History: 1965 act allowed regional school districts to redeem bonds by issuing new one; 1967 acts replaced one year
limit on original and renewal notes with two-year limit; 1969 acts increased maturity limit on renewal notes for notes
originally issued for less than two years to four years; 1969 acts divided section into subsections and added powers to sue
and be sued, to purchase, convey, etc. real and personal property and to build, equip, maintain, etc. schools, rephrased
provisions concerning bonding power and referendum, deleted provision for numbering districts in order of incorporation,
rephrased provision regarding maturity of installments, added Subsec. (b) basing bond limit on aggregate indebtedness
and annual receipts from taxation, placed four-year limit on temporary notes regardless of whether they are initial notes
or renewals, rephrased other provisions concerning notes and added Subsec. (d) concerning investment or deposit of
proceeds of bonds and notes; P.A. 74-239 amended Subsec. (a) to add statement that exercise of powers under section is
not to be construed as amendment of regional plan; P.A. 86-350 made a variety of changes for purposes of clarification,
updating the statutes to conform to current financial practices and to conform to anticipated changes in federal tax policy;
P.A. 87-506 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for various methods of determining payment amounts; P.A. 89-337 allowed
semiannual installments, provided that the first maturity date or sinking fund payment shall be not later than three years,
rather than two, from the issuance date and clarified the powers which the board may delegate to an officer or a body; P.A.
93-158 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re redemption by new issuance and amended Subsec. (b) by redefining
"annual receipts from taxation" to be receipts for fiscal year preceding beginning of current year rather than those preceding
close of last year and adding provision re exclusions from the computation of aggregate indebtedness, effective June 23,
1993; P.A. 95-282 amended Subsec. (d) to make technical changes, effective July 6, 1995, provided "any designation of
a depository of public funds of the state or any municipality or regional school district, and any prescription of the method
of supervision of the investment and reinvestment of trust funds of a municipality, made in accordance with the applicable
provisions of sections 4-33, 7-401, 7-402, 7-403, subsection (c) of section 10-52 or subsection (d) of section 10-56 in effect
on or before July 6, 1995, shall remain in effect until rescinded or otherwise modified in accordance with the provisions
of public act 95-282" (Revisors note: The reference to "section 10-52" appears to be a clerical error since Subsec. (c) of
Sec. 10-51 was amended by Sec. 5 of P.A. 95-282); P.A. 96-244 revised effective date section of P.A. 95-282 but without
affecting this section; P.A. 99-97 amended Subsec. (b) to add reference to Sec. 7-374 in computing the aggregate indebtedness of districts, effective June 3, 1999; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-6 amended Subsec. (c) to permit period to extend up to
eight years and add language re terms extending past the fourth year, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-87 amended Subsec.
(a) to allow a 30-year term for bonds authorized pursuant to Ch. 173 on or after July 1, 1996, and amended Subsec. (c) to
include reference to one-thirtieth of the net project cost, effective July 1, 2007; Nov. 24 Sp. Sess. P.A. 08-2 amended
Subsec. (c) to extend maximum time period for issuance of temporary notes from eight to ten years and extend maximum
time period for renewal of notes from eight to ten years, effective November 25, 2008.
Cited. 169 C. 613.