As Amended
SEC. 65-23-107. Powers and duties of project trustee.
Before any bonds shall be issued under the authority of this article, there shall be appointed and designated by the governor a project trustee, which shall be a banking corporation authorized to act in a trust capacity, having its main domicile in a county in which some part of the project for which it is appointed is situated or is to be constructed. Such trustee shall be designated by the name of the project for which it is appointed.
(a) Promptly after its appointment, said project trustee shall confer with the state highway commission and ascertain the estimated cost of the project according to plans and specifications to be prepared and approved by the state highway commission. Said project trustee shall prepare and submit to the state highway commission a plan of financing such project adequate to provide the necessary funds, having in mind the imposition of the least onerous burden upon the area to be served by the project and the best interest of the state. Said plan shall designate the maximum amount of bonds to be issued, the maturities and place of payment thereof, the terms, manner, and conditions of calling said bonds for prepayment before their respective maturity dates, the terms of any trust agreement to secure the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds, and a schedule of tolls to be charged and collected for the use of the project to provide sufficient funds for the payment of the principal of and interest on such bonds as the same become due to be paid. The state highway commission shall consider the recommendations contained in such plan of financing and may suggest changes therein which, if approved by the trustee, may be made a part thereof. If the state highway commission finds that the best interest of the State of Mississippi and the area to be served by said project will be served by the approval of the plan submitted by the project trustee, or said plan as amended by and with the approval of the project trustee, it may approve the same by order duly spread upon its official minutes. Upon the approval of the plan by the state highway commission, the project trustee shall prepare all necessary resolutions and proceedings for the issuance of such bonds to be adopted by the state highway commission, and shall prepare the trust agreement as provided in the aforesaid plan of financing approved by the state highway commission.
(b) Said bonds shall be sold by the state bond commission in the manner provided for the sale of state bonds, and a sufficiency thereof shall be sold from time to time at the request of the state highway commission to provide funds for the payment of the cost of said project during its construction. The proceeds of the sale of said bonds shall be deposited with the trustee upon the trustee qualifying as depository therefor in the manner provided by statute for depositories of state funds, and said funds shall thereupon be subject to requisition of the state highway commission for the payment of the cost of such project in the manner provided under the provisions of Title 65, Mississippi Code of 1972. The project trustee shall have authority to employ attorneys to assist in the preparation of said plan of financing, the preparation of necessary resolutions and proceedings for the issuance of said bonds, and the preparation of the trust agreement, and to pay for such services out of said funds; however, in no instance shall the attorney fees paid for the issuance or refunding of bonds under this article exceed one third of one per cent of the principal of the bonds.
(c) The trust indenture provided herein shall pledge and assign the tolls and revenues, but shall not convey or mortgage the project itself or any part thereof. Either the resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds or such trust indenture may contain such provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders as may be reasonable and proper and not in violation of law, including covenants setting forth the duties of the state highway commission in relation to the acquisition of properties, the construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and insurance of the project, and the custody, safeguarding, and application of all moneys. The bond resolution or indenture may set forth the rights and remedies of the bondholders and of the project trustee and may restrict the individual rights of action of the bondholders. In addition to the foregoing, such bond resolution or trust indenture may contain such other provisions as the project trustee and the state highway commission may deem reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders, including, but without limitation, covenants prescribing all happenings or occurrences which constitute events of default, the term and conditions upon which any or all of the bonds shall become or may be declared to be due before maturity, and as to the rights, liabilities, powers, and duties arising upon the breach by the state highway commission of any of its duties or obligations.
(d) The state highway commission shall have charge of the collection of the tolls for the use of said project and shall require all employees handling such funds to enter into bond with some surety company authorized to do business in Mississippi, in a penal sum at least double the amount of funds to come into the possession of such employee at any one time. Said employees shall, on each banking day, deposit with the project trustee the full amount of the tolls collected to the close of the preceding day and shall receive a receipt from the project trustee therefor; and it shall be the duty of the project trustee to promptly mail a copy of such receipt to the main office of the state highway commission.
(e) Annually while any of said bonds are outstanding, at least one month prior to the maturity dates of said bonds, the trustee shall file with the state highway commission a statement of all moneys coming into its hands from the sale of said bonds or the operation of the project, with its recommendations of the maximum rate or schedule of tolls to be charged for the use of the project for the ensuing year. If it appear that with the use of any surplus then available, having due regard for sound banking practices, the tolls so recommended will provide sufficient funds to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds to become due in such year, it shall be the duty of the state highway commission to fix and adopt such rates and tolls and to collect the same for the ensuing year.
(f) The project trustee shall be vested with such further powers, consistent with the provisions of this article, as may be provided in the trust indenture and shall be entitled to receive customary banking charges for its services, which may be fixed in the trust indenture. Payments thereof to the trustee, and payments of expenses incurred by the trustee, shall be made out of any funds realized under this article upon requisition drawn by the trustee upon the state auditor.
SOURCES: Codes, 1942, Sec. 8447-04; Laws, 1950, ch. 406, Sec. 4.