Bill Text: VA HB33 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Debt, state and local; estimates of debt service costs to be included in ballot question.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-16 - House: Left in Appropriations [HB33 Detail]

Download: Virginia-2010-HB33-Comm_Sub.html

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10104661D
HOUSE BILL NO. 33 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns on January 29, 2010) (Patron Prior to Substitute--Marshall, R.G.) A BILL to amend and reenact §15.2-2606 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-2610.1, relating to propositions authorizing or creating certain local debt; estimate of debt service required.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §15.2-2606 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 15.2-2610.1 as follows:

§15.2-2606. Public hearing before issuance of bonds.

A. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, general or special, but subject to subsection B of this section, before the final authorization of the issuance of any bonds by a locality, the governing body of the locality shall hold a public hearing on the proposed bond issue. Notice of the hearing shall be published once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper published or having general circulation in the locality. The notice shall state the general purpose or purposes and the; estimated maximum amount; present-day, nonbinding estimated number of years required to amortize; and present-day, nonbinding estimated total debt service payable on the principal amount of the bonds proposed to be issued and shall specify the time and place of the hearing at which persons may appear and present their views. The hearing shall not be held less than six nor more than twenty-one 21 days after the date the second notice appears in the newspaper. Estimates of maximum amount, number of years required to amortize, and total debt service shall not be binding and any variations from such estimates shall not affect the validity of any bond issue.

B. No notice or public hearing shall be required for (i) bonds which that have been approved by a majority of the voters of the issuing locality voting on the issuance of such bonds or (ii) obligations issued pursuant to §§ 15.2-2629, 15.2-2630 or § 15.2-2643.

§15.2-2610.1. Estimate of debt service to be included in the public notice for the ballot question.

In any referendum held on the question of the issuance of bonds pursuant to §15.2-2610, a present-day, nonbinding estimate of the anticipated number of years over which the debt shall be amortized and the total present-day nonbinding estimated debt service payable on the principal amount of the bonds until their retirement shall be included in the notice of election required by §15.2-2610. Estimates of the number of years over which the debt shall be amortized and the debt service payable on the principal amount of the bonds shall not be binding and any variations from such estimates shall not affect the validity of any bond issue.