§41-9-783. Revenue bonds deemed exclusive obligation of commission - Appropriation and pledge of TVA payments.

All revenue obligations issued by the commission shall be solely and exclusively the obligations of the commission and shall not create an obligation or debt of the state or of any county or of any municipality within the state. For the purpose of providing additional funds to enable the commission to pay at their respective maturities the principal of and the interest on an issue of revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $3,500,000.00 to pay the costs of constructing and equipping the said information and exhibit center or to pay the principal of and the interest on any revenue refunding bonds issued to refund any revenue bonds that shall be issued for that purpose, there is hereby irrevocably pledged to such purpose and hereby appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for such purpose from the revenues retained by the State of Alabama from the in-lieu-of-taxes payments made by Tennessee Valley Authority following the distribution of a portion of such payments to certain counties in the State of Alabama as provided in Section 40-28-2, or any successor law or statute. In order to carry out the said pledge and appropriation, the entire revenues so retained by the State of Alabama from the aforesaid in-lieu-of-taxes payments made by Tennessee Valley Authority (which are herein called the "TVA payments") in each fiscal year of the State of Alabama shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of a special fund to be called the "Tennessee Valley Exhibit Commission Trust Fund" (herein called the "trust fund"), until an amount equal to the principal of and the interest on any such revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds that shall come due in the then next succeeding fiscal year shall be on deposit in the trust fund. Further, for the purpose of providing additional funds to enable the commission to pay at their respective maturities the principal of and the interest on a second issue of revenue bonds of the commission in a principal amount not to exceed $1,500,000.00, the net proceeds of which shall be used to pay the costs of constructing and equipping the said information and exhibit center or to pay the principal of and the interest on any revenue refunding bonds issued to refund any revenue bonds that shall be issued for that purpose, there is hereby irrevocably pledged to such purpose and hereby appropriated, in addition to all amounts that shall have heretofore been so pledged and appropriated for the benefit of the aforesaid issue of revenue bonds of the commission in an amount not to exceed $3,500,000.00, such amounts from the TVA payments as may be necessary to pay all such principal and interest at their respective maturities. In order to carry out any such pledge and appropriation for the benefit of each of the foregoing issues of revenue bonds of the commission the entire TVA payments in each fiscal year shall be deposited to the credit of the trust fund until an amount equal to the principal of and the interest on each of the aforesaid issues of revenue bonds of the commission, or any revenue refunding bonds that shall be issued by the commission to refund any such revenue bonds, maturing in the then next succeeding fiscal year shall be on deposit in the trust fund. The amounts deposited into the trust fund in each fiscal year shall be disbursed and are hereby appropriated to the extent necessary to pay at their respective maturities, or to redeem under the terms thereof, the principal of and the interest on each of the foregoing issues of revenue bonds of the commission, or any revenue refunding bonds that may be issued to refund either of the said issues of revenue bonds that shall be so issued for such purpose.

In each fiscal year of the State of Alabama, beginning in the fiscal year in which any such revenue bonds are issued by the commission, all moneys retained by the State of Alabama from the TVA payments shall be so deposited into the trust fund until the amount on deposit in the trust fund shall equal the total principal and interest becoming payable with respect to the said revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds in the next succeeding fiscal year of the state. After the said amount shall have been deposited into the trust fund in each fiscal year, all other moneys retained by the State of Alabama from TVA payments shall be credited to the State General Fund. Not less than 30 days before the end of each fiscal year, beginning with the fiscal year in which the said revenue bonds shall be issued, the executive director of the commission shall determine whether or not the net revenues of the commission derived from all sources whatsoever during the then current fiscal year, after payment of all the costs of operating the said information and exhibit center and all other expenses of the commission, shall be sufficient or insufficient to pay the principal and interest that will come due during the next succeeding fiscal year on those bonds of the commission for payment of which TVA payments have been pledged. Not less than 15 days before the end of each fiscal year the executive director of the commission shall file a notification with the Director of Finance stating whether such net revenues shall be sufficient or insufficient to pay the said principal and interest coming due in the next succeeding fiscal year. If the said executive director shall determine that the said net revenues of the commission shall not be sufficient to pay the said principal and interest during the then next succeeding fiscal year of the state, he shall so state in the said notification and shall specify the amount of any expected deficiency, supported by such documentation as shall be deemed appropriate by the Director of Finance. Upon receipt of said notification and such other documentation as he may specify, the Director of Finance shall cause to be transferred, and to the extent herein provided there is hereby in such event appropriated to the commission, solely for the purpose of paying such principal and interest, an amount equal to the lesser of (i) the amount of any expected deficiency as determined by the Director of Finance or (ii) the entire amount then on deposit in the trust fund. Following any such transfer, all moneys retained by the State of Alabama from TVA payments shall again be deposited into the trust fund until an amount equal to the entire principal and interest coming due on the said bonds in the then next succeeding fiscal year shall again be on deposit in the trust fund, after which all moneys retained by the State of Alabama from TVA payments shall again be credited to the State General Fund.

If at the end of any fiscal year of the commission there shall be on deposit in the State Treasury any surplus funds for the account of the commission, after payment of the principal of and the interest on any outstanding revenue bonds of the commission and all costs of operating, maintaining and improving all facilities of the commission in each such fiscal year, such surplus moneys shall first be applied to the reimbursement to the trust fund of all moneys previously withdrawn from the trust fund for the account of the commission, with interest at the legal rate on all such moneys from the date of their withdrawal from the trust fund. If, after all moneys so withdrawn from the trust fund shall have been repaid with interest thereon, any such surplus moneys shall be on deposit in the State Treasury for the account of the commission, such surplus moneys shall be transferred into the General Fund of the state promptly after the close of each such fiscal year.

At such time as the entire principal of and the interest on any revenue bonds or revenue refunding bonds issued by the commission for the payment of which TVA payments have been pledged have been paid, no further TVA payments shall be deposited into the trust fund, and all moneys then on deposit in the trust fund shall be paid into the General Fund.

(Acts 1984, No. 84-292, p. 551, §4; Acts 1985, No. 85-655, p. 1024, §1; Acts 1987, No. 87-586, p. 957, §2; Acts 1990, No. 90-531, p. 823, §2.)