SEC. 21.16.4. PURPOSE.
(Added by Ord. No. 168,368, Eff. 12/4/92.)
(a) (i) The purpose of this special tax is to provide funds to the City to pay or fund:
1. lease payments to be made by the City pursuant to any lease of the System or any component thereof, including any land or building to be acquired or constructed;
2. expenses incurred incident to the authorization, issuance or sale of the bonds referred to below (including refunding bonds);
3. costs or expenses incurred by any lessor of any component of the System in connection with the execution, performance or enforcement of any such lease or any assignment thereof, the acquisition, construction or ownership of any such component or the lease thereof to the City, including, but not limited to, fees, costs, expenses or administrative costs of any such lessor in connection with any such component;
4. costs or expenses (including attorneys’ fees and disbursements) of any trustee under any trust agreement or indenture under which any of the bonds referred to below are issued, including but not limited to compensation and indemnification of any such trustee;
5. any amounts required to be paid into any reserve fund created under any such trust agreement or indenture, or amounts to be set aside for deposit into reserve funds for bonds referred to below (including refunding bonds) theretofore or thereafter issued;
6. any insurance premiums payable on account of any component of the System or its use or operation, as well as amounts paid to or to be set aside in any self-insurance fund or risk retention account, or amounts to be set aside to provide for payment of any deductible under any insurance policy;
7. any amounts payable incident to obtaining or maintaining, or otherwise pursuant to, any credit enhancement or liquidity agreements or arrangements with respect to any of such bonds or lease;
8. any amounts payable
(a) incident to obtaining or maintaining, or otherwise pursuant to, any surety bond, letter of credit or other credit arrangement obtained to fund initially or at any later date any reserve fund or part thereof created under any such trust agreement or otherwise in respect of such bonds, or
(b) to reimburse for any payment made under any such surety bond, letter of credit or other credit arrangement, including interest thereon;
9. any amounts payable pursuant to any contract entered into pursuant to Section 21.16.4 (a)(iii);
10. any amounts required to be paid to the United States of America as a rebate in order for interest payments on any of such bonds to be exempt from federal income taxes;
11. any amounts to be set aside for payment or prepayment of future lease payments in respect of any component of the System (whether then leased or expected to be leased thereafter) or for the defeasance, payment, prepayment or redemption of any of the bonds referred to below (including refunding bonds), including the payment of any prepayment penalty or premium;
12. the costs of collecting and administering the tax; and
13. any amounts required to reimburse the General Fund of the City for amounts withdrawn from the General Fund and used for any of the purposes set forth in this Section 21.16.4.
(ii) The lease payments referred to in Section 21.16.4(a)(i) will serve as collateral for and the source of repayment of not to exceed $235,000,000 aggregate principal amount of lease revenue bonds to be issued as a single issue, or in two or more issues or series of an issue, by a nonprofit corporation, joint powers authority or other financing medium. Such lease payments may also serve as collateral for and the source of repayment of refunding bonds issued to refund lease revenue bonds; provided, however, that unless approved by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by voters voting on a proposition to increase the bonding authority, refunding bonds shall not be issued if the total net interest cost to maturity on the refunding bonds plus the principal amount of the refunding bonds exceeds the total net interest cost to maturity on the bonds to be refunded plus the principal amount of the bonds to be refunded.
The net proceeds of the lease revenue bonds (excluding refunding bonds) are to be used to acquire, construct or install components of the System. The System is required to provide more rapid, efficient delivery of response of police, fire, paramedic and other emergency services in the City. In the event the City shall lease any components of the System under a lease that is payable from the General Fund as well as from the special tax, and such lease provides for abatement of rent or other payments either in whole or in part in the event of damage to or destruction of any such components, then, in the event there is any such abatement, payments from the special tax permitted by this Section 21.16.4 shall be allocated first to, or in respect of, any component of the System for which payment from the General Fund has abated due to such damage or destruction, and thereafter to the balance of the components.
(iii) In connection with or incident to the entering into or maintaining any lease of the System or any component thereof or the issuance or maintenance of any lease revenue bonds contemplated by this ordinance, the City may enter into any contracts which it determines to be necessary or appropriate to place the obligations under any lease of the System or any component thereof, or to place the obligations under the lease revenue bonds, in whole or in part, on the interest rate, currency, cash flow or other basis desired by the City, including without limitation, contracts commonly known as interest rate swap agreements, currency swap agreements, forward payment conversion agreements, futures, or contracts providing for payments based upon levels of, or changes in, interest rates, currency exchange rates, stock or other indices, or contracts to exchange cash flows or a series of payments, or contracts, including without limitation, interest rate floors or caps, options, puts or calls to hedge payment, currency, rate, spread or similar exposure. These contracts may be entered into with the parties, selected by the means, contain the payment, security, default, remedy and other terms and conditions, determined by the City, after giving due consideration to the creditworthiness of the counter-parties where applicable, including any rating by a nationally-recognized rating agency or other criteria as may be appropriate. The City shall not enter into any of the foregoing contracts unless the City Council first determines that the contract is designed to result in a lower payment by the City incident to the lease of the System or any component thereof. Contracts or arrangements authorized by the foregoing shall comply with the provisions of Section 5922(b) of the California Government Code (as in effect on the date this Ordinance is approved by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by the voters voting on the special tax set forth herein) to the extent applicable.
(b) The Los Angeles City Council (hereafter “City Council”) may provide for the collection of the special tax in the same manner and subject to the same penalties as, or with, other charges and taxes fixed and collected by the City, or by the County of Los Angeles on behalf of the City of Los Angeles. If the special tax is collected by the County on behalf of the City, the County may deduct its reasonable costs incurred for such service.
(c) Director of Finance of Los Angeles (hereafter “Director of Finance”) costs and other costs of enforcement and administration of the tax, including refunds, shall be paid from the special tax revenues.
(d) No more than $235,000,000 of lease revenue bonds shall be issued under the authority of this Ordinance, unless a greater amount shall be approved by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by voters voting on a proposition to increase the bonding authority; provided, however, that without such voter approval, refunding bonds may be issued as specified in Section 21.16.4 (a) hereof; and provided further that approval for additional bonding authority shall not constitute approval of any increase in the maximum tax rate authorized by Section 21.16.6 hereof, nor shall it extend the period during which the tax may be imposed, unless expressly approved by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by voters voting on a proposition to so change the tax rate or to extend the period during which the tax may be imposed.
