Title 7, Title 7

(1) A local entity may submit itself and a proposed plan of adjustment to the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court having jurisdiction of the matter. If the local entity submits a proposed plan of adjustment, it is governed, subject to the provisions of Montana law applicable to …

A local entity shall comply with all orders and decrees contemplated by the federal municipal bankruptcy laws and may issue its bonds and other securities for the carrying out and consummation of the adjustment of its debts as provided and contemplated by the federal law and as r…

The state or any department or agency of the state holding any of the securities of a local entity has the power to consent to any plan of adjustment of the indebtedness of the local entity by the board or official that has custody of and control over the securities.

(1) Subject to the conditions and provisions contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, and the availability of allocation as determined in 17-5-116, cities and counties are authorized to designate economic recovery zones and issue recovery…

(1) Subject to the conditions and provisions contained in section 54D of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 54D, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, and the availability of an allocation, cities and counties are authorized to issu…

(1) A county may not issue bonds or incur other indebtedness for any purpose in an amount, including existing indebtedness, that in the aggregate exceeds 2.5% of the total assessed value of taxable property, determined as provided in 15-8-111, within the county as ascertained by …

All bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by or on behalf of the county are void.

No county must ever give or loan its credit in aid of or make any donation or grant, by subsidy or otherwise, to any individual, association, or corporation or become a subscriber to or a shareholder in any company or corporation or a joint owner with any person, company, or corp…

(1) The board may issue a duplicate warrant, bond, or coupon whenever any warrant, bond, or coupon drawn by it upon the treasury of the county is lost or destroyed. The duplicate warrant, bond, or coupon must be in the same form as the original and will take the place in order of…

The county treasurer, upon the production of any original bond, warrant, or coupon by the lawful owner or holder, shall assign by endorsement and deliver to the owner or holder the surety bond mentioned in 7-7-2104. The owner or holder may maintain an action upon the surety bond …

The board of county commissioners has jurisdiction and power, under such limitations and restrictions as are prescribed by law, to issue on the credit of the county coupon bonds to an amount sufficient to secure the necessary funds for the procurement of necessary building sites,…

(1) Public funds realized from the sale of bonds by a county for the purpose of constructing public buildings or for other construction may be invested in any time or savings deposits, United States certificates of indebtedness, United States treasury notes, or United States trea…

The board of county commissioners of a county may issue, negotiate, and sell coupon bonds on the credit of the county, as more specifically provided in this part, for any of the following purposes: (1) acquiring land for sites and grounds for a public building or buildings of any…

(1) The board of county commissioners of every county of the state may issue, negotiate, and sell coupon bonds on the credit of the county, as provided in this part, for the purpose of funding, paying in full, or compromising, settling, and satisfying any judgment rendered agains…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a county may not issue general obligation bonds for any purpose in an amount that, with all outstanding bonds and warrants except emergency bonds, exceeds the debt limitation referred to in 7-7-2101. (2) The limitation in subsection (1) d…

All bonds issued by any county in excess of the limitations fixed in 7-7-2203 shall be null and void.

All bonds issued under the provisions of this part shall be legal and valid obligations of the county issuing the same, and the full faith and credit of such county are hereby irrevocably pledged for the prompt payment of both principal and interest thereof as the same become due…

(1) Bonds issued for any of the purposes designated in 7-7-2201(1) through (4) may not be for a longer term than 20 years. (2) Bonds issued for any of the purposes designated in 7-7-2201(5) and (6) may not be for a longer term than 10 years. (3) Bonds issued for any of the purpos…

Other than refunding bonds, all bonds issued for a longer term than 5 years must be redeemable at the option of the county on any interest payment date after one-half of the term for which they were issued has expired, and the redemption option must be stated on the face of the b…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), bonds issued by any county must be either amortization bonds or serial bonds. (2) Citizen bonds may be amortization bonds, serial bonds, term bonds, capital appreciation bonds, or zero-coupon bonds, without preference for amortization bon…

The term "amortization bonds", as used in this part, means that form of bond on which a part of the principal is required to be paid each time that interest becomes due and payable. The part payment of principal increases with each following installment in the same amount that th…

The term "serial bonds", as used in this part, means a bond issue payable in annual installments of principal commencing not more than 2 years from the date of issue, any one installment consisting of one or more bonds, with the principal amount of bonds maturing or subject to ma…

(1) A county authorized to sell general obligation bonds under this chapter may issue and sell a portion of the bonds in denominations of less than $5,000 by: (a) competitive public sale, directly to members of the public, at preestablished interest rates; or (b) private sale pur…

Prior to issuing citizen bonds, a county shall make available to interested investors: (1) a preliminary official statement, a draft-form legal opinion from a recognized bond counsel, and a comparison to taxable yields at various income levels; and (2) application forms for the p…

If an entire issue of bonds is not fully subscribed during the period of time that the county has set for the sale of the bonds, the citizen bonds may be sold in the manner permitted for other county general obligation bonds.

The terms "zero-coupon bonds" and "capital appreciation bonds", as used in this part, mean those forms of bonds that do not make periodic interest payments but, rather, are sold at a discount from their face value.

Bonds may be issued without submitting the same to an election if the bonds are issued for the purpose of: (1) enabling a county to liquidate its indebtedness to another county incident to the creation of a new county or the changing of a county boundary line, as set forth in 7-7…

(1) In order to issue bonds for any of the purposes referred to in 7-7-2221 and 7-7-2311, it shall only be necessary for the board of county commissioners, at a regular or duly called special meeting, to pass and adopt a resolution setting forth the facts in regard to the indebte…

(1) County bonds for any purpose other than those enumerated in 7-7-2221 and 7-7-2311 may not be issued unless authorized by registered electors of the county voting at an election conducted in accordance with Title 13, chapter 1, part 4. (2) A bond election may not be called unl…

(1) Every petition for the calling of an election to vote upon the question of issuing county bonds shall plainly and clearly state the purpose or purposes for which the proposed bonds are to be issued and shall contain an estimate of the amount necessary to be issued for such pu…

(1) The completed petition for an election on issuing bonds must be filed with the election administrator. The election administrator shall, within 15 days, carefully examine the petition and the county records showing the qualifications of the petitioners and attach a certificat…

(1) After completing the certificate required by 7-7-2225, the election administrator shall deliver the certified petition to the board of county commissioners. (2) When the petition has been filed with the election administrator and the administrator has found that it has a suff…

(1) Upon delivery of the certified petition, the board shall carefully examine the petition and make any other investigation that it may consider necessary. If it is found that the petition is in proper form, bears the requisite number of signers of qualified petitioners, and is …

(1) Notice of a bond election must be in accordance with 13-1-108. (2) (a) The notice must state: (i) the date when the election will be held; (ii) the amount of bonds proposed to be issued; (iii) the purpose of the issue; (iv) the term of years through which the bonds are to be …

Whenever the question of issuing county bonds for any purpose is submitted to the registered electors of a county, the determination of the approval or rejection of the bond proposition is made in the following manner: (1) determine the total number of electors who were qualified…

(1) If a sufficient percentage of the qualified electors entitled to vote at an election voted on the question and a sufficient percentage of votes were cast in favor of issuing bonds as provided in 7-7-2237 and if the board of county commissioners conducts a public sale, the boa…

If none of said bonds have been sold and issued within 3 years from the date of the bonding election and no vested rights have accrued thereunder, the board of county commissioners may rescind the authority to sell and issue such bonds by the passage and adoption of a resolution …

(1) If a county conducts a public sale, the notice of sale must state the purpose or purposes for which the bonds are to be issued and the amount proposed to be issued for each purpose and must be substantially in the following form: NOTICE OF SALE OF COUNTY BONDS Notice is hereb…

If a county conducts a public sale, the board of county commissioners shall publish notice of the bond sale in the official newspaper of the county as provided in 17-5-106. The board may in its discretion publish the notice or a summary of the notice in any financial newspapers p…

(1) Any bonds issued under the authority of this part may be sold at public or private sale as determined by the board of county commissioners pursuant to 17-5-107. If the board of county commissioners conducts a public sale, it shall meet at the time and place fixed in the notic…

(1) At the time of the sale of the bonds or at a meeting held after the sale, the board of county commissioners shall adopt a resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds, prescribing the form of the bonds, whether amortization bonds or serial bonds, providing the manner of…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the county clerk, under the direction of the board, shall have the bonds printed or lithographed at the expense of the county at lowest commercial rates. The bonds may be typewritten with the purchaser's consent. (2) A purchaser of the bo…

(1) When executed by the officers of the county, the bonds must be registered by the county treasurer before being delivered to the purchaser. (2) The registration must show: (a) the date of issue, the maturities of the bonds subject to early redemption and the redemption dates, …

The county clerk shall deliver to the county treasurer an unsigned and canceled printed copy of a bond of each issue, as issued and registered, to be preserved in the treasurer's office.

The county treasurer shall deliver the bonds to the purchaser upon receiving full payment for the bonds.

All money arising from the sale of the bonds shall be paid to the county treasurer and shall be immediately available for the purpose for which the bonds were issued and for no other purpose.