Title 24, Title 24: Municipal and County Government

§ 4685. Special accounts in Revenue Fund The Bank may establish in the Revenue Fund accounts, subaccounts, or special accounts which in its opinion are necessary, desirable, or convenient for its purposes. (Added 1987, No. 55, § 29, eff. May 15, 1987.)

§ 4686. Vermont Infrastructure Sustainability Fund (a) Creation. There is created the Vermont Infrastructure Sustainability Fund within the Vermont Bond Bank. (b) Purpose. The purpose of the Fund is to provide capital to extend and increase capacity of water and sewer service and…

§ 4701. Rights of holders paramount In order to carry out its purpose under this chapter of making loans to governmental units, by purchase of the municipal bonds or revenue bonds of those governmental units, and by receipt of its income from service charges and from payments of …

§ 4702. Default in payment If the Bank defaults in the payment of principal or interest on any issue of notes or bonds after they become due, whether at maturity or upon call for redemption, and the default continues for thirty days, or if the Bank fails or refuses to comply with…

§ 4703. Powers of trustee on default A trustee appointed under section 4702 of this title may, and shall in the trustee’s name, upon written request of the holders of 25 per centum in principal amount of the outstanding notes or bonds: (1) By suit, action, or proceeding, enforce …

§ 4704. Superior Court jurisdiction The Superior Courts have jurisdiction of any suit, action, or proceeding by a trustee on behalf of noteholders or bondholders. The venue of any suit, action, or proceeding shall be laid in the County of Washington. (Added 1969, No. 216 (Adj. Se…

§ 4705. Notice on default Before declaring the principal of notes or bonds due and payable, the trustee must first give 30 days’ notice in writing to the Governor, the Bank, the State Treasurer, and the Attorney General of the State. (Added 1969, No. 216 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. M…

§ 4706. Personal liability Neither the members of the Bank nor any person executing bonds or notes issued under this chapter are liable personally on the bonds or notes. (Added 1969, No. 216 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 27, 1970.)

§ 4707. Exemption from execution and sale All property of the Bank is exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution and no execution or other judicial process may issue against it nor may any judgment against the Bank be a charge or lien upon its property, but nothing herei…

§ 4708. Pledge of revenues; lien thereof Any pledge of revenues or other monies made by the Bank is binding from the time when the pledge is made. Revenues or other monies so pledged and thereafter received by the Bank shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge withou…

§ 4709. Federal insurance or guaranty The Bank may obtain from any department or agency of the United States of America any available insurance or guaranty for the payment or repayment of interest or principal, or both, or any part thereof, on any bonds or notes issued by the Ban…

§ 4710. Surety for deposits by Bank All banks, trust companies, savings banks, investment companies, and other persons carrying on a banking business are hereby authorized to give to the Bank a good and sufficient undertaking with such sureties as shall be approved by the Bank to…

§ 4751. Declaration of policy It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to foster and promote timely expenditures by municipalities for water systems, clean water projects, and solid waste management, each of which is declared to be an essential governmental function whe…

§ 4752. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Agency” means the Agency of Natural Resources. (2) “Bond Bank” means the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank established by section 4571 of this title. (3) “Municipality” means any city, town, village, town school district, incorporated s…

§ 4753. Revolving loan funds; authority to spend; report (a) There is hereby established a series of special funds to be known as: (1) The Vermont Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Control Revolving Fund, which shall be used, consistent with federal law, to provide …

§ 4753a. Awards from revolving loan funds (a) Pollution control. The General Assembly shall approve all categories of awards made from the special funds established by section 4753 of this title for water pollution abatement and facility construction, in order to assure that such…

§ 4753b. Acceptance of funds (a) The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, with the approval of the Secretary of Natural Resources, may accept federal grants made available through the federal Clean Water Act and the federal Drinking Water Act in accordance with this chapte…

§ 4754. Loan application A municipality may apply for a loan, the proceeds of which shall be used to acquire, design, plan, construct, enlarge, repair, or improve a clean water project, public water supply systems as defined in subdivision 4752(9) of this title, or a solid waste …

§ 4755. Loan; loan agreements; general provisions (a) Except as provided by subsection (c) of this section, the Bond Bank may make loans to a municipality on behalf of the State for one or more of the purposes set forth in section 4754 of this chapter. Each of the loans shall be …

§ 4756. Eligibility certification (a) No construction loan or loan for the purchase of land or conservation easements to a municipality shall be made under this chapter, nor shall any part of any revolving fund that is designated for project construction be expended under section…

§ 4757. Revolving loan funds; additional uses In addition to providing a source of funds from which loans may be made to municipalities under this chapter, each fund created under section 4753 of this chapter may be used for one or more of the following purposes: (1) To make loan…

§ 4758. Loan priorities (a) Periodically, and at least annually, the Secretary shall prepare and certify to the Bond Bank a project priority list of those municipalities whose publicly or privately owned clean water projects are eligible for financing or assistance under this cha…

§ 4759. Regulations The Secretary and the Bond Bank may adopt rules and policies necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter in order to ensure the self-sustaining nature of the funds created under section 4753 of this chapter, and also to ensure compliance with the req…

§ 4760. Contractual authority; reports (a) The Secretary and the Bond Bank may enter into agreements on behalf of the State with agencies of the United States of America as may be necessary to obtain grants and awards in furtherance of the stated purposes for which the loan funds…

§ 4761. Noncontestability No action at law or in equity shall be brought or maintained that directly or indirectly challenges, attacks, or questions or in any manner contests the formation, or the existence as a body corporate and politic of any municipality whose bonds, notes, o…

§ 4762. Delinquent loan payments Delinquent loan payments due the bank under section 4755 of this title may, with an interest rate of ten percent per annum greater than the interest rate of the loan, be recovered by action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the politica…

§ 4763. Loans to municipalities for privately owned clean water projects (a) Where the Secretary has determined that a privately owned clean water project is the preferred alternative to abate or control a pollution problem or to provide water quality benefits, a loan may be made…

§ 4763a. Loans to municipalities for privately owned potable water supplies When a household has been involuntarily disconnected from a public water supply system and that disconnection did not occur as a result of nonpayment of fees, a loan may be made to a municipality from the…

§ 4763b. Loans to individuals for failed wastewater systems and failed potable water supplies (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, when the wastewater system or potable water supply serving only single-family and multifamily residences either meets the …

§ 4763c. Loans to municipalities for municipal public water supply systems (a) The Secretary may certify to the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank established by section 4571 of this title the award of a loan to a municipality to assist with a public water supply system project, when th…

§ 4763d. Municipal match of federal revolving funds (a) A municipality may choose to provide the State money necessary to match federal monies available to the Vermont EPA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund established by subdivision 4753(a)(3) of this title, and thereby become …

§ 4764. Planning (a) Engineering planning advance. A municipality or a combination of two or more municipalities desiring an advance of funds for engineering and land use planning for public water supply systems, as defined in subdivision 4752(9) of this title, or improvements, o…

§ 4765. Application for loans to municipalities The application shall be supported by data covering: (1) a description of the project; (2) a description of the engineering service to be performed; (3) an explanation of the need for the project; (4) an estimate of the cost of the …

§ 4766. Award of advance (a) The Department may award an engineering planning advance, as defined in section 4764 of this title, in an amount determined by standards established by the Department, and pursuant to the following: (1) for public water supply systems, as defined in s…

§ 4767. Payment of awards On receipt of the engineering planning documents and their approval by the Department, the Department shall certify the award to the Commissioner of Finance and Management who shall issue his or her warrant for payment of the award from the construction …

§ 4768. Repayment of advances Advances under this subchapter shall be repaid when construction of the facilities or any portion thereof is undertaken. Where a construction grant or loan is authorized by the Department for the project, the amount of the outstanding advances shall …

§ 4769. Loans to hardship municipalities (a) Waiver of bond vote. A hardship municipality may receive a loan for an eligible project that includes a loan subsidy of up to $200,000.00 in the form of 100 percent principal forgiveness with no interest or administrative fee from fund…

§ 4770. Eligibility (a) For the purpose of this subchapter, “VEDA” means the Vermont Economic Development Authority which is authorized to make loans on behalf of the State under this chapter when the loan recipient is a privately-owned public water system. Such loans shall be is…

§ 4771. Conditions of loan agreement (a) VEDA may make loans to applicants on behalf of the State for one or more of the purposes set forth in subsection 4770(b) of this title. Each such loan shall be made subject to the following conditions: (1) The loan shall be evidenced by a …

§ 4772. Qualifications for eligibility; certification No loan to an applicant shall be made under this subchapter until: (1) The applicant has certified to VEDA that: (A) all State and federal permits and licenses, including land use, subdivision, water supply and wastewater perm…

§ 4773. Loan priorities The Secretary shall at least annually prepare a list of projects, ranked in priority order, that are eligible for financial assistance under this subchapter. In establishing such priorities, the Secretary shall at a minimum consider the following: (1) the …

§ 4774. Contractual authority; reports (a) The Secretary and VEDA may enter into agreements on behalf of the State with agencies of the United States as may be necessary to obtain grants and awards in furtherance of the stated purposes of the loan fund created under section 4753 …

§ 4775. Liability against default Under no circumstance shall the State or VEDA become responsible for owning or operating a privately-owned community water system when the loan recipient defaults on a loan obligation or abandons the water supply or water system. (Added 1997, No.…

§ 4776. Action for receivership Upon default of a loan, VEDA shall have the right to petition the Superior Court in the county in which any part of the water system is located, or the Public Utility Commission for systems subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, to appoint …

§ 4777. Loan consolidation Loans, or the outstanding balance of loans, made for the purpose of preparing engineering plans for a project may be consolidated with any subsequent loans for construction. (Added 1997, No. 62, § 75, eff. June 26, 1997.)

§ 4778. Federal capitalization grant distribution The Secretary may use any available and lawful funds to match federal funds otherwise available to capitalize the Fund created by subdivision 4753(a)(3) of this title. Up to 20 percent of the funds which have been identified in th…