LEGAL NOTICE
Notice is hereby given pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. §2104(5) that the City Council of the City of Old Town will hold a public hearing on September 5, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, 265 Main Street, Old Town, ME for consideration of proposed amendments to Article IX of the City Charter.
Summary of Amendments: The proposed amendments provide the City Council with authority to issue bonds for any public purpose, including economic development. They also place a limit on the amount of bonds that may be outstanding at any given time for the purposes of making loans or grants to any individual or entity, and make other non-substantive amendments to clarify some Charter provisions. The complete proposed amendments are set forth below.
City of Old Town, Maine
2017 Amendment of the City Charter
Part 1. Article IX of the Charter of the City of Old Town, as enacted by Chapter 49 of the 1945 Private and Special Laws of Maine, as amended, is further amended by revising sections 7 and 8 and by adding a new section 7-A as follows (overstruck text will be deleted and underlined text will be added):
Sec. 7. Borrowing.
The borrowing of money by and for the city shall be limited as to form and purpose by the provisions of section 8 and section 9 of Article IX of this charter. The credit of the city shall in no manner be loaned to any individual, association or corporation except to the extent set forth in section 7-A of Article IX of this charter.
Sec. 7-A. Loans and grants.
Bonds, which are issued in accordance with section 8 of Article IX of this charter for the public purpose of economic development and the proceeds of which are used to make any grant or loan to any individual, association, corporation or other entity in accordance with such terms as may be approved by order of the city council, shall at no time be outstanding in an aggregate principal amount which exceeds $4,000,000.
Sec. 8. Bond issue.
Money may be borrowed in accordance with the constitution and statutes of the state now or hereafter applying to Old Town by the issue and sale of bonds or notes pledged on the credit of the city, or on the revenues and assets of the projects financed with the proceeds of any such borrowing, or on the revenues of the City specified by order of the city council, the proceeds to be used for any public purpose determined by the city council, including for the acquisition of land, the construction and equipment of buildings, the construction of streets and roads, and other permanent public improvements, for economic development to the extent determined by the city council to serve a public purpose, and for the payment or refunding of bonds, notes and certificates of indebtedness previously issued. No order providing for the issue of bonds shall be passed without public notice given by posting notice of the same in two (2) public places in the City of Old Town, and publishing said notice in at least two (2) newspapers published in said Penobscot County at least two (2) weeks before the final action by the city council, and the approval of a majority of all the members of the city council. Every issue of bonds shall be payable within a fixed term of years; if said bonds are issued for the purpose of financing a capital asset, the term of such bonds shall not exceed the estimated period of utility of said asset but the declaration of the city council embodied in the order authorizing the issue shall be a conclusive determination of the estimated period of utility thereof; and the term within which all bonds shall be made payable shall in no case exceed thirty (30) years. Bonds issued after the adoption of this charter shall be made payable in equal, annual, serial installments as pertains to principal, and interest shall be made payable semiannually, provided that principal installments of bonds issued for economic development purposes need only be in amounts consistent with state law. Every order for the issue of bonds shall provide for a levy of taxes, an appropriation of revenues or both for each year of an amount necessary for the payment of the annual, serial installment of principal and interest; and such amounts shall be included in the tax levy for each year until the debt is extinguished; provided, however, that the provisions for payment of any bonds of the city issued prior to the adoption of the 2017 amendment of this section 8 of Article IX of this charter shall not be altered by such 2017 amendment.
Part 2. If the amendment set forth in Part 1 hereof is approved by City voters on November 7, 2017, such amendment shall take effect on November 8, 2017.
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