Title 4, Economic Resources

Borrowing by the Authority. (a) (1) The authority may issue bonds, debentures, securities notes, collaterals, and other obligations, at such rates and with such maturities as may be stipulated therein, and upon security as may be appropriate to the type of obligations shall be re…

Project Supervision. (a) The authority may at its discretion provide project guidance to any undertaking financed entirely or in part by the authority through periodic visits by authority staff and through regular flow of reports from the borrower of other persons receiving such …

Economic Development Loan Fund. (a) The Northern Marianas Economic Development Loan Fund shall be managed and administered by the authority in accordance with the provisions of this division. (b) The Northern Marianas Economic Development Loan Fund Board shall be dissolved not la…

Conflicts of Interest. (a) No loan or other financial assistance shall be granted to any authority board member, the executive director, or any spouse or member of his or her household. Neither shall any loan or other financial assistance (other than a loan guarantee with a comme…

Staff. (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, the executive director may hire no more than 15 employees for those positions that the board may specifically provide for; provided, that where feasible and available, the authority shall rely on agencies of the Commonwealth g…

Privacy of Information. No member of the board, officer, counsel, agent, or employee of the authority who becomes privy to any proprietary information as a result of his official position with the authority shall reveal such information to any person outside the course of his off…

Civil and Criminal Penalties. (a) Criminal Penalties. Any member of the board, or any officer, employee, counsel, or agent of the authority or any other person who embezzles, abstracts, or wilfully misapplies any money, funds, credit, or securities of the authority, or who wilful…

Legal Relationships. (a) The authority and all its property, transactions, and income shall be exempted from all taxes and other levies in the nature of taxes of the Commonwealth or any local government thereof. This exemption shall not apply to any private enterprise in which th…

Audits. The Public Auditor shall audit the operations, books, and records of the authority at least annually and in accordance with 1 CMC § 7710(a) and title 1, division 2, part 1, chapter 6 [1 CMC § 2301 et seq.]. The report of the audit shall be transmitted to the executive dir…

Exemptions. The funds of the authority shall be exempt from the regulations promulgated by the Director of Finance under 1 CMC §§ 7725 and 7726. The authority may promulgate regulations under 1 CMC §§ 7725 and 7726. Source: PL 4-63, § 10, modified. Commission Comment: With respec…

Authority Reinvestment Revenue Bonds Program. (a) In furtherance of 4 CMC § 10203 and not in limitation thereof, the authority is expressly authorized and empowered to make and issue bonds, notes, or other obligations in furtherance of the purposes of this division by reinvesting…

Public Debt Authorization. The Commonwealth Economic Development Authority is hereby authorized, subject to the approval of the board of trustees of the Marianas Public Land Trust, to borrow up to $2,000,000 to be used for improvements and beautification of American Memorial Park…

Definitions. As used in this article: (a) “Authority” means the Commonwealth Economic Development Authority. (b) “Bonds” means general obligation bonds, notes, and other instruments of indebtedness. (c) “Commonwealth” means the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (d) “C…

Authorization to Issue: Amount. The Authority may issue from time to time general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth, in an amount not exceeding the total amount of those bonds authorized to be issued by bond authorization acts of the legislature and any amendments thereto in e…

Application of Proceeds. (a) The proceeds of bonds so issued shall be devoted to the costs of issuance of the bonds, debt service reserves (if any), and any one or more of the following purposes (and any other purpose or purposes expressed in the acts of the legislature authorizi…

Details of Bonds. (a) All bonds issued pursuant to this article shall bear interest at such rate or rates (fixed or variable), payable at such time or times; shall mature and be payable at such time or times; may be issued as serial bonds or term bonds or a combination thereof; m…

Sale of Bonds. (a) The Authority may make such arrangements as may be necessary or proper for the sale of each issue of bonds or part thereof as are issued pursuant to this article including, without limitation, arranging for the preparation and printing of the bonds, the officia…

Form and Execution of Bonds. Bonds issued pursuant to this article shall be in such form as the Authority may determine, and shall be lithographed or steel engraved. All bonds issued pursuant to this article shall be manually signed by the chairman of the Authority, shall bear th…

Signatures. When bonds of the Commonwealth are prepared and signed (manually or by facsimile) by the chairman and the executive director of the Authority in office at the time of such signing, the signatures of the chairman and the executive director shall be valid and sufficient…

CUSIP Numbers. (a) The Authority may provide that CUSIP identification numbers shall be imprinted on bonds issued pursuant to this part. In the event that CUSIP identification numbers are imprinted on any bonds: (1) No number shall constitute a part of the contract evidenced by t…

Credit and Liquidity Facility; Swaps and Hedges; Investments. Subject to the provisions of this article or the bond authorization act but notwithstanding any other provision of law, all of the following apply: (a) In connection with, or incidental to, the issuance or carrying of …

Bonds Tax Exempt; First Charge on General Fund; Additional Security; Waiver of Sovereign Immunity. (a) All bonds issued pursuant to this article and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, except inheritance…

Payment, Principal and Interest. (a) When bonds issued pursuant to this article and the several interest amounts mature, the Authority shall pay the same. If the bonds or interest are made payable elsewhere than at the office of the Authority, the Authority shall make arrangement…

Fiscal and Paying Agents and Registrars. The Authority may appoint such trustees, fiscal agents, tender agents, paying agents, and registrars, within and without the Commonwealth, as may be necessary and expedient to facilitate the sale, purchase, registration, transfer, exchange…

Federal Tax Exempt Status, Preference, Protection. Bonds issued pursuant to this article, to the extent practicable, shall be issued to comply with requirements imposed by applicable law providing that the interest on the bonds shall be excluded from gross income for United State…

Bond Anticipation Notes. In anticipation of the issuance pursuant to this article of general obligation bonds authorized by the legislature and of the receipt of the proceeds of sale of those bonds, the Authority, for and in the name and on behalf of the Commonwealth, may issue a…

Refunding Bonds Authorized. (a) Subject to the other provisions of this article, the Authority, without further authorization of the legislature, from time to time, for and in the name and on behalf of the Commonwealth, may issue general obligation refunding bonds of the Commonwe…

Bonds Negotiable, Incontestable. This article, without reference to any other law except as provided herein, shall be full authority to issue or sell general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth, and the bonds and all interim receipts or certificates shall have all the qualities …

Definitions. For purposes of this chapter: (a) “Ad valorem” means the value of goods, commodities, resources or merchandise. (b) “Alcoholic beverage” means beer or other malt beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage, wine or sake and any other beverage, which contains at least 0.5 …

Excise Tax. (a) General. For the privilege of first sale, use, manufacture, lease or rental of goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise in the Commonwealth for business purposes or for personal use exceeding the value specified in subsection (c) of this section, there is imp…

Fuel Tax. (a) Liquid Fuel Tax. Except as provided in subsection (b) and (c) of this section, for the privilege of first selling or distributing fuel in the Commonwealth, there is imposed an excise tax at the rate of 15 cents per gallon. (b) Aviation Fuel Tax. For the privilege of…

Fuel Tax Exemption. The secretary may by regulation reduce or waive the fuel tax imposed under 4 CMC § 1403 where: (a) The price of aviation fuel without the aviation fuel tax would be more competitive than the price of aviation fuel elsewhere and the airline would purchase the a…

Beverage Container Tax. (a) Soft Drink Beverage Containers. There is imposed a tax upon all soft drink beverage containers in the amount of five cents per container. (b) Alcoholic Beverage Containers. There is imposed a tax upon each container of any alcoholic beverage in the amo…

Exemption. Any goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise subject to tax under this chapter and requiring customs inspection and clearance may be exempted from such tax if such goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise is certified as damaged or not received by the carrier…

Payment of Tax; Time; Release of Goods; Container Tampering. (a) Generally. Except as provided in 4 CMC § 1407(b), all taxes required by this chapter shall be paid within 30 calendar days after the first sale, use, completion of manufacture, lease or rental in the Commonwealth of…

Refunds: Exports. Upon application to the secretary, any person who imports goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise into the customs territory of the Commonwealth for sale, use, lease or rental and exports them to a buyer outside of the customs territory of the Commonwealth…

Refunds: Limitation Period. Application for refund pursuant to 4 CMC § 1408 shall be filed with the secretary within one year from the date the tax was paid or required to be paid or goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise entered the Commonwealth, whichever is earlier. Sou…

Declaration Required. Any person who imports any goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise from outside the Commonwealth and is subject to excise tax imposed on those goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise by this chapter shall declare the entry of such goods, commodit…

Environmental Beautification Tax. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a tax at the rate of .42 percent ad valorem is hereby assessed on all consumer goods as defined in § 1401(f). The tax shall be collected by the Division of Customs at the point of entry. (b) The Env…

Penalties. The following penalties for this chapter are in addition to the other penalties provided by this division: (a) A penalty of 100 percent of the value of the goods, commodities, resources, or merchandise shall be imposed on any person who imports any goods, commodities, …

User Fees. Any person requiring the certification of the Department of Finance for country of origin or other purposes relating to exports from the Commonwealth shall be charged a user fee. The user fee shall be 3.7 percent of the gross value of the merchandise to be certified wh…

Nonrefundable Credit. A person may take the user fee imposed under 4 CMC § 1421 as a nonrefundable credit against the tax imposed on Commonwealth source income under Subtitle A of the NMTIT pursuant to chapter 7 of this division [4 CMC § 1701 et seq.]. No such credit shall be all…

Authorization. The secretary or his designee is hereby authorized to collect the fees provided in 4 CMC § 1421 when due and collectible. Source: PL 9-22, § 1 (§ 1422) (repealing PL 4-14, § 2); renumbered by PL 9-57, § 2. Commission Comment: With respect to the reference to the “s…

Penalty. Any failure to comply with the provisions of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 as may be determined by the secretary. This penalty is in addition to the other penalties provided by this division, and is not an assessable penalty subje…

Regulations. The secretary or designee may promulgate regulations consistent with the purposes of this article. Source: PL 9-59, § 2. Commission Comment: With respect to the reference to the “secretary” of the Department of Finance, see Executive Order 94-3 (effective August 23, …

No Double Taxation. Manufacturers (as defined in 4 CMC § 1103(n)) that pay the user fee set forth in this Article on goods produced or manufactured in the Commonwealth and exported shall not be subject to the Tax on Gross Revenue or Earnings set forth in Title 4, Division 1, Chap…