BONDS

Denver Revised Municipal Code ch. 20, art. V

in effect

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-91 Definitions.

Sec. 20-91. - Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows: Financial advisor: A person hired or retained by the city either to render financial advice or assistance to the city on matters pertaining to municipal bonds or with the authority to represent the city in the matter of municipal bonds, including advice with respect to the structure, timing, terms and other similar matters concerning such municipal bonds, for a fee or other compensation or in expectation of such compensation for rendering of such services. Municipal bond or bond issue: Any evidence of indebtedness, including but not limited to bonds, notes, agreements for the advancement of money and other instruments evidencing municipal debt issued or executed by or on behalf of the city or any agency of the city which are payable from ad valorem taxes or any other pledged revenue except those issued: (1) In the name of the city by the board of water commissioners; (2) By the city to finance local public improvements payable from special assessments; and (3) By the city as or known as private activity, industrial development, economic development and similar bonds for which the city is not financially obligated other than airport system revenue bonds and single-family mortgage revenue bonds. Underwriter: Any person who offers to purchase municipal bonds whether for resale or investment. It does not include those whose interest is limited to a commission, concession or allowance from an underwriter, broker or dealer of municipal bonds. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-92 Financial advisor.

Sec. 20-92. - Financial advisor. (a) Upon the retention of a financial advisor by the mayor or the manager of finance, the manager shall summarize the work to be performed by such advisor and shall communicate the retention in writing to the president of city council. The city clerk shall read the communication to the council. (b) No financial advisor shall, either alone or as a participant in a syndicate, either directly or indirectly participate in the purchase from the city or in any original-issue resale by the purchasing account of municipal bonds on which the advisor has rendered advice or assistance. No financial advisor shall arrange for acquisition or participation in the acquisition of municipal bonds by a person controlling, controlled by or under common control with such financial advisor. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90; Ord. No. 775-07, § 45, 12-26-07)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-93 Notification of council regarding transactions relating to bonds.

Sec. 20-93. - Notification of council regarding transactions relating to bonds. (a) Before beginning negotiations, promulgating the request for qualifications or request for proposals for underwriters or undertaking any other action that obligates or could obligate the city financially with regard to issuance of municipal bonds, the manager shall notify the president of council in writing that the city may be issuing municipal bonds. The notification shall be read to the council at its next regularly scheduled meeting. (b) The notification shall include a description of the following to the extent known at the time of notification: (1) The purpose, cost, benefits, useful life and reason for the project; (2) The proposed financing of the project, including the type of securities being offered, amount, projected interest rates, projected debt service amount and source of payment; (3) The process to be used for the sale of municipal bonds, including a description of whether the bonds will be sold by competitive bidding, by negotiation or by private placement. If the bonds are not to be sold after competitive bidding, the description shall include the process that will be used to notify and select underwriters; (4) In reasonable detail, the events leading up to the issuance; (5) The proposed timetable for the events leading up to the issuance; (6) The name of the person or agency proposing the issuance; (7) The name of the person or firm who will be serving as bond counsel; and (8) Other information that will in the opinion of the manager provide council with full knowledge of the process to be followed. (c) The manager shall not take any action that obligates the city to issue municipal bonds until at least fifteen (15) days after the city clerk reads the notification submitted by the manager in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90; Ord. No. 128-26, § 2, 3-2-26)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-93.1 Council action.

Sec. 20-93.1. - Council action. (a) When the council receives the notification described in section 20-93, the matter shall be assigned to the appropriate council committee. The council may in its discretion, within fifteen (15) days of the reading by the city clerk of the notification, introduce and act upon a resolution stating council's intent to approve the issuance. (b) If the resolution fails, the manager shall confer with the committee of council assigned the matter for the purpose of reconsidering the proposed bond issue. (c) If the manager changes substantially the description of the bond issue, the manager shall notify the president of council in writing of the changes. The city clerk shall read the notification of changes to the council at its next regularly scheduled meeting. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-93.2 Ordinance approving bond sale.

Sec. 20-93.2. - Ordinance approving bond sale. The ordinance authorizing the issuance of municipal bonds shall be enacted in advance of the closing of the sale. Enactment of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of the municipal bonds shall be conclusive evidence that the procedures and requirements of this article have been completely and timely met. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-93.3 Disclosure of underwriters and dealers.

Sec. 20-93.3. - Disclosure of underwriters and dealers. Within seventy (70) days after the delivery of the proceeds from a sale of municipal bonds, the underwriter managing the transaction shall submit to the manager of finance a list of the underwriters involved in such transaction together with a list of the participating dealers, if different, and the percentage of participation by each underwriter involved. (Ord. No. 459-90, § 2, 8-13-90; Ord. No. 115-97, § 1, 2-18-97; Ord. No. 775-07, § 46, 12-26-07)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-94 Local public improvement district bonds; revolving fund.

Sec. 20-94. - Local public improvement district bonds; revolving fund. (a) The manager of finance, upon the estimate and order of the manager of transportation and infrastructure and with the approval of the mayor, may issue and sell, at not less than par and accrued interest, sufficient local public improvement bonds of the City and County of Denver to pay for all local public improvements authorized according to the procedures set forth in part 6 of article VII of the Charter, including the engineering and clerical services, advertising, cost of bond issuance, costs of inspection, accrued interest on outstanding bonds, and any necessary lands taken or damaged. (b) The council shall establish the maximum rate of bond interest and the period of time for which the maximum rate is applicable. (c) All such bonds shall be issued by the manager of finance upon order of the manager of transportation and infrastructure, without being audited by the auditor or the audit committee or allowed by council. The bonds shall be issued in accordance with section 20-97, and the manager shall preserve a record of all such bonds issued. (d) Local public improvement bonds shall be payable only out of the moneys collected on account of the respective assessments made for such improvements or from the proceeds of refunding bonds. All moneys collected on account of the assessments for any improvement shall only be applied to the payment of the bonds issued for the same improvement or to the payment of any bonds issued to refund such bonds, until the payment of all the bonds related to such improvement has occurred. (e) Whenever funds may be held to the credit of any local public improvement district exceeding six months interest on the unpaid principal, the manager of finance may, with such notice as the manager shall determine, call in a suitable number of the bonds of such district for payment; and interest on the bonds so called shall cease on the date set in the notice. (f) Where all outstanding bonds have been paid in a local public improvement district for which bonds were issued, and any money remains to the credit of such district, it shall be transferred to a special surplus and deficiency fund. Whenever there is a deficiency in any local public improvement district to meet payment of outstanding bonds, such deficiency shall be paid out of the fund. Any income derived from the investment of the special surplus and deficiency fund may be transferred by ordinance to another city fund, subject to the following conditions: (1) No such transfer shall cause the balance in the surplus and deficiency fund immediately after the transfer to be less than 25 percent of the principal amount of all local public improvement district bonds then outstanding and not defeased; and (2) No such transfer shall be made unless all local public improvement district bonds issued prior to the transfer and remaining outstanding and not defeased on the date of the transfer provide that the purchaser thereof waives any contractual rights such purchaser may have to the money permitted herein to be transferred. (g) Whenever there is insufficient money in the treasury to the credit of any local public improvement district to pay any installment of interest, or part thereof, on the bonds of the district, when the same becomes due and payable, then the city shall, upon appropriation by city council, pay the interest when due, and reimburse itself from collections to be made on the unpaid assessments due the district. (h) As an alternative to the issuance of local public improvement bonds pursuant to this section to fund local public improvements, the city may establish a local public improvement revolving fund for the purpose of financing such local public improvements with funds of the city. Such local public improvement revolving fund shall be funded through appropriations made by the city council and by the assessments made for such local public improvements on the property especially benefitted thereby. All assessments made for local public improvements financed with moneys from such local public improvement revolving fund shall be deposited in such local public improvement revolving fund and utilized for additional local public improvements throughout the city. (Code 1950, § 163.1; Ord. No. 1013-02, § 2, 12-9-02; Ord. No. 775-07, § 47, 12-26-07; Ord. No. 39-20, § 40, 2-3-20)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-95 Refunding bonds.

Sec. 20-95. - Refunding bonds. (a) Term and redemption. Refunding bonds issued by the city shall run for such term as shall be fixed and determined by ordinance of the city, and may be exchanged for bonds to be refunded or sold and the proceeds received by the treasurer and deposited with a banking institution to be selected by the manager of finance and kept and held in a separate fund and to be paid out only for the purpose of redeeming and paying off the outstanding bonds so to be refunded. Upon such exchange or redemption and payment, the outstanding bonds and the unmatured coupons thereof shall be immediately canceled. (b) Statutes inapplicable. The restrictions contained in the language quoted hereinbelow from C.R.S. 1973, 31-21-205, and the words quoted from such sections hereinbelow be and the same are hereby expressly superseded and declared to have no application, force or effect within the city: "… and maturing during a period not exceeding thirty-five (35) years from the date thereof." (Code 1950, § 163.2; Ord. No. 775-07, § 48, 12-26-07)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-96 Earnings from municipal bonds and certificate of participation proceeds.

Sec. 20-96. - Earnings from municipal bonds and certificate of participation proceeds. (a) Unless otherwise provided in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of any municipal bonds issued by or on behalf of the city, the earnings from the investment of proceeds from the sale of such bonds shall be deposited in the fund or account from which debt service on such bonds is payable. (b) Unless otherwise provided by the ordinance authorizing the city to enter into an agreement related to the lease-purchase of property financed by the issuance of certificates of participation and subject to annual appropriation, the city may enter into any such agreement only if the document under which such certificates are issued provides that the earnings from the investment of proceeds from the sales of such certificates be deposited in the fund or account from which annual debt service on such certificates is payable. (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, earnings in an amount estimated to equal the payments required to be paid to the federal government pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code may be deposited in a fund or account to be used for such payments. (Ord. No. 421-89, § 1, 8-14-89)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 20-97 Form and procedures for bonds and other securities.

Sec. 20-97. - Form and procedures for bonds and other securities. (a) Bonds, other securities and other similar obligations of the City and County of Denver (collectively referred to in this section as "public securities") may be issued in book entry form, with or without the delivery of physical securities, any registered form or bearer form, with or without interest coupons, or in any combination thereof, with or without the right of conversion to another form, and in any denomination or denominations, with or without the right of conversion to any other denomination, subject to such conditions for transfer, all as may be provided in the instrument authorizing the public securities. As used in this section, "the instrument authorizing the public securities" means the ordinance of the city council, the order of the manager of transportation and infrastructure or the resolution of the board of water commissioners, or other appropriate action, whichever is applicable, which authorizes the sale and issuance of such public securities. (b) The instrument authorizing the public securities shall appoint the manager of finance or any other officer of the city or any retained corporate agent as registrar or registrars to perform such duties with respect to the registration, custody, conversion, exchange and transfer of the city's public securities as may be provided therein. (c) Public securities may be made registrable, transferable and payable by the registrar under such terms and conditions as may be provided in the instrument authorizing the city's public securities. Payment at designated due dates or in installments may be by check, draft, warrant or other order for payment or medium of payment and under such other conditions as may be provided in the instrument authorizing the public securities. (d) The instrument authorizing the public securities shall stipulate the form of the securities. If the instrument requires the delivery of securities in physical form, such securities shall contain the manual or facsimile signatures of any city official stipulated in the instrument authorizing the public securities. Any registrar may hold in custody any partially or fully executed public securities if provided by, and to the extent permitted by, the instrument authorizing the public securities. (e) Records with regard to the ownership or pledge of public securities are not subject to public inspection or copying under any law of the City and County of Denver or of this state relating to the right of the public to inspect or copy public records. Registration records of the City and County of Denver may be maintained at such locations within the United States as may be determined by the instrument authorizing the public securities. (Ord. No. 1013-02, § 3, 12-9-02; Ord. No. 775-07, § 49, 12-26-07; Ord. No. 39-20, § 41, 2-3-20)

Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH20FI_ARTVBOFetched: 10/27/2026