NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 109

HOUSE BILL 213

 

 

AN ACT AMENDING CHAPTER 159C OF THE GENERAL STATUTES OF NORTH CAROLINA, AS ENACTED BY CHAPTER 800 OF THE 1975 SESSION LAWS OF NORTH CAROLINA, AS AMENDED, WHICH AUTHORIZES COUNTIES TO CREATE AUTHORITIES TO ISSUE BONDS TO FINANCE INDUSTRIAL AND POLLUTION CONTROL PROJECTS, TO REVISE THE PROVISIONS THEREOF TO PERMIT THE USE OF LOAN AGREEMENTS AND SALE AGREEMENTS IN ADDITION TO LEASE AGREEMENTS, TO PROVIDE THAT ARTICLE 9 OF THE NORTH CAROLINA UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE, WHICH RELATES TO SECURED TRANSACTIONS, SHALL APPLY TO TRANSACTIONS UNDER CHAPTER 159C, AND TO PERMIT THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO APPROVE A PROJECT WHERE THE OPERATOR THEREOF PAYS AN AVERAGE WEEKLY MANUFACTURING WAGE NOT LESS THAN TEN PERCENT ABOVE THE AVERAGE WEEKLY MANUFACTURING WAGE PAID IN THE STATE.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 159C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, enacted as Chapter 159A by Chapter 800 of the 1975 Session Laws of North Carolina, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:

(a)  G.S. 159C-3(6) is hereby amended to read as follows:

"'Financing agreement' shall mean a written instrument establishing the rights and responsibilities of the authority and the operator with respect to a project financed by the issuance of bonds. A financing agreement may be in the nature of a lease, a lease and leaseback, a sale and leaseback, a lease purchase, an installment sale and purchase agreement, a conditional sales agreement, a secured or unsecured loan agreement or other similar contract and may involve property in addition to the property financed with the bonds."

(b)  Wherever the term "lease agreement" appears in G.S. 159C-3(7), (12) and (13), G.S. 159C-5(6), G.S. 159C-6, G.S. 159C-8 and G.S. 159C-12, the same shall be amended to read "financing agreement".

(c)  G.S. 159C-11 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Financing agreements. Every financing agreement shall provide that:

(1)        the amounts payable under the financing agreement shall be sufficient to pay all of the principal of and redemption premium, if any, and interest on the bonds that shall be issued by the authority to pay the cost of the project as the same shall respectively become due;

(2)        the obligor shall pay all costs incurred by the authority in connection with the financing and administration of the project, except as may be paid out of the proceeds of bonds or otherwise, including, but without limitation, insurance costs, the cost of administering the financing agreement and the security document and the fees and expenses of the fiscal agent or trustee, paying agents, attorneys, consultants and others;

(3)        the obligor shall pay all the costs and expenses of operation, maintenance and upkeep of the project; and

(4)        the obligor's obligation to provide for the payment of the bonds in full shall not be subject to cancellation, termination or abatement until such payment of the bonds or provision therefor shall be made.

The financing agreement, if in the nature of a lease agreement, shall either provide that the obligor shall have an option to purchase, or require that the obligor purchase, the project upon the expiration or termination of the financing agreement subject to the condition that payment in full of the principal of, and the interest and any redemption premium on, the bonds, or provision therefor, shall have been made.

The financing agreement may provide the authority with rights and remedies in the event of a default by the obligor thereunder including, without limitation, any one or more of the following:

(1)        acceleration of all amounts payable under the financing agreement;

(2)        reentry and repossession of the project;

(3)        Termination of the financing agreement;

(4)        leasing or sale or foreclosure of the project to others; and

(5)        taking whatever actions at law or in equity may appear necessary or desirable to collect the amounts payable under, and to enforce covenants made in, the financing agreement.

The authority's interest in a project under a financing agreement may be that of owner, lessor, lessee, conditional or installment vendor, mortgagor, mortgagee, secured party or otherwise, but the authority need not have any ownership or possessory interest in the project.

The authority may assign all or any of its rights and remedies under the financing agreement to the trustee or the bondholders under a security document.

Any such financing agreement may contain such additional provisions as in the determination of the authority are necessary or convenient to effectuate the purposes of this Chapter."

(d)        The provisions of G.S. 25-9-104(e) and G.S. 25-9-302(6) to the contrary notwithstanding, the provisions of Article 9 of the North Carolina Uniform Commerical Code, being G.S. 25-9-101 to G.S. 25-9-607, inclusive, shall apply to transactions under G.S. Chapter 159C to the same extent the provisions of such Article 9 would apply were G.S. 25‑9‑104(e) and G.S. 25-9-302(6) hereby repealed.

(e)        G.S. 159C-7(1)a(ii) is hereby revised to read as follows:

"(ii)       which is not less than ten percent (10%) above the average weekly manufacturing wage paid in the State, and".

Sec. 2.  The creation, formation and organization of all authorities heretofore purported to have been created, formed and organized under the provisions of this Chapter are hereby ratified, confirmed and validated.

Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 6th day of March, 1979.