Section 36-61-12. Issuance of bonds; payment; tax exemption; form; terms; sale; signatures; negotiability; effect of recitation on bonds

   (a) A municipality or county shall have power to issue bonds, in its discretion, from time to time, to finance the undertaking of any urban redevelopment project under this chapter, including, without limiting the generality thereof, the payment of principal and interest upon any advances for surveys and plans for urban redevelopment projects and shall also have power to issue refunding bonds for the payment of retirement of such bonds previously issued by it. Such bonds shall be made payable, as to both principal and interest, solely from the income, proceeds, revenues, and funds of the municipality or county derived from or held in connection with its undertaking and carrying out of urban redevelopment projects under this chapter; provided, however, that payment of such bonds, both as to principal and interest, may be further secured by a pledge of any loan, grant, or contribution from the federal government or other source, in aid of any urban redevelopment projects of the municipality or county under this chapter, and by a mortgage of any such urban redevelopment projects or any part thereof, title to which is in the municipality or county.

(b) Bonds issued under this Code section shall not constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory debt limitation or restriction and shall not be subject to the provisions of any other law or charter relating to the authorization, issuance, or sale of bonds. Bonds issued under this chapter are declared to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and, together with interest thereon and income therefrom, shall be exempted from all taxes.

(c) Bonds issued under this Code section shall be authorized by resolution or ordinance of the local governing body. They may be issued in one or more series and shall bear such date or dates, be payable upon demand or mature at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates, be in such denomination or denominations, be in such form either coupon or registered, carry such conversion or registration privileges, have such rank or priority, be executed in such manner, be payable in such medium of payment, at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption (with or without premium), be secured in such manner, and have such other characteristics as may be provided by the resolution of the local governing body or by the trust indenture or mortgage issued pursuant thereto.

(d) Such bonds may be sold at not less than par at public sales held after notice published prior to such sales in a newspaper having a general circulation in the area of operation and in such other medium of publication as the municipality or county may determine or may be exchanged for other bonds on the basis of par. Such bonds may be sold to the federal government or to an institution insured by an agency of the federal government at private sale at not less than par and, in the event that less than all of the authorized principal amount of such bonds is sold to the federal government or to an institution insured by an agency of the federal government, the balance may be sold at private sale at not less than par at an interest cost to the municipality or county, such cost not to exceed the interest cost to the municipality or county of the portion of the bonds sold to the federal government or to an institution insured by an agency of the federal government.

(e) If any of the public officials of the municipality or county whose signatures appear on any bonds or coupons issued under this chapter cease to be such officials before the delivery of the bonds, such signatures, nevertheless, shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes, the same as if the officials had remained in office until the delivery. Any provision of any law to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds issued pursuant to this chapter shall be fully negotiable.

(f) In any suit, action, or proceeding involving the validity or enforceability of any bond issued under this chapter or the security therefor, any such bond reciting in substance that it has been issued by the municipality or county in connection with an urban redevelopment project, as defined in paragraph (22) of Code Section 36-61-2, shall be conclusively deemed to have been issued for such purpose and such project shall be conclusively deemed to have been planned, located, and carried out in accordance with this chapter.

(g) Any urban redevelopment agency or housing authority which a municipality or county has elected to exercise powers under Code Section 36-61-17 may also issue bonds, as provided in this Code section, in the same manner as a municipality or county, except that such bonds shall be authorized and the terms and conditions thereof shall be prescribed by the commissioners of such urban redevelopment agency or housing authority in lieu of the local governing body.

Ga. L. 1955, p. 354, § 10; Ga. L. 1970, p. 115, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1352, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 36; Ga. L. 1993, p. 91, § 36.