A.R.S. tit. 48 ch. 30 — Arizona Revised Statutes Title 48 Chapter 30 — Regional Transportation Authority

48-5301. Definitions In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Arterial street or highway" means a street or highway that is used primarily for through traffic such that vehicular traffic from intersecting streets and highways is required by law to stop or yield before entering or crossing the street or highway. 2. "Authority" means a regional transportation authority organized under this chapter. 3. "Board" means the board of directors of a regional transportation authority established pursuant to section 48-5303. 4. "Controlled access highway" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28-601. 5. "County" means a county with a population of less than one million two hundred thousand persons in which a regional transportation authority is established pursuant to section 48-5302. 6. "Fiscal agent" means a bank or trust company authorized to do business in this state or the county treasurer as designated by the board. 7. "Municipality" means an incorporated city or town. 8. "Population" means the population determined in the most recent United States decennial census or the most recent special census as provided in section 28-6532. 9. "Public transportation" means local transportation of passengers by means of a public conveyance, including para-transit. 48-5302. Regional transportation authority; establishment A. A regional transportation authority is established in a county with a population of more than four hundred thousand but less than one million two hundred thousand persons. The board of supervisors of a county with a population of four hundred thousand or fewer persons may establish a regional transportation authority in the county. B. An authority is a public, political, tax levying public improvement and taxing subdivision of this state and a municipal corporation to the extent of the powers and privileges conferred by this chapter or granted generally by the constitution and statutes of this state, including immunity of its property and the interest income and gain on its bonds from taxation. C. The membership of the authority consists of each municipality in the county, the county and any other members of the regional council of governments that are from the county that established the authority. The authority may operate in all areas of the county in which it is organized. D. The executive director of the regional council of governments acts as the executive director of the authority and serves in that specific role until replaced at the discretion of the board of the regional transportation authority. 48-5303. Board of directors; executive director A. The government of the authority is vested in a board of directors composed of the members of the regional council of governments that are from the county that established the authority, and each member of the board of directors is vested with one vote each when determining transportation policy as the regional transportation authority. B. The members of the board shall: 1. Appoint a chairman from among the members at the first official meeting of the board. 2. By rule determine its officers, terms and procedures of appointment. 48-5304. Board duties The board shall: 1. Determine the exclusive public transportation systems to be acquired and constructed, the means to finance the systems and whether to operate the systems or to let contracts for their operation. In the operation of the public transportation system the board may use public transportation facilities used by a municipality, subject to section 48-5308, subsection F. 2. Approve a request for an election to the board of supervisors for submission of the following issues to the electorate: (a) Approval of a transportation excise tax authorized by section 42-6106. (b) Approval of elements of the regional transportation plan developed pursuant to section 48-5309. (c) Approval of changes in the regional transportation plan pursuant to section 48-5309, subsection B. 3. Produce annually a five year transportation improvement program that is consistent with the regional transportation plan elements and that contains the following: (a) Projects financed with monies from the regional transportation fund. (b) A description of each project, including a schedule of expenditures and sources of funding for each project. (c) The political subdivision with responsibility for project implementation. 4. Assure that projects proposed for federal, state or local funding appear in the authority's transportation improvement program and in the transportation improvement program of the regional council of governments. 5. Not later than January 1 of each year for publication in at least two newspapers of the county in January, assess and analyze the status and implications of the transportation improvement program with respect to the occurrence of substantial change as defined in section 48-5309 and with respect to the potential for or occurrence of the following conditions: (a) An actual project expenditure that exceeds the project budget amount shown in the first year of the transportation improvement program by five per cent or more. (b) A project cost amount that exceeds by ten per cent or more the project budget amount that appears in the first year of the transportation improvement program. (c) First year and five year cumulative projected expenditures for all elements of the regional transportation plan in the five year transportation improvement program that exceed revenue estimates for corresponding periods by twenty per cent or more. 6. Develop supplements to the regional transportation plan that encompass a period of time that is coterminous with the effective period of a transportation excise tax approved pursuant to section 42-6106. A supplement shall not be developed earlier than the fourth year and not later than the second year before the expiration of the regional transportation plan. 7. Adopt an annual budget, hire employees and fix the compensation of its employees. 8. Cause a postaudit of the financial transactions and records of the authority to be made at least annually by a certified public accountant. 9. Adopt rules that are proper or necessary to regulate the use, operation and maintenance of its property and facilities, including its public transportation systems and related transportation facilities and services operating in its area of jurisdiction, and to carry into effect the powers granted to the board. 10. Provide opportunities for involvement in all aspects of the planning and amendment process by all affected interested parties. 11. Appoint advisory committees as it deems necessary. 12. Have sole authority to implement the elements of the regional transportation plan, including authority to contract for, absorb or acquire existing public transportation services as it deems necessary. 13. Coordinate the implementation of the regional transportation plan among the local jurisdictions. 14. Contract for financial, administrative, underwriting and trust services necessary to issue bonds pursuant to sections 48-5341 through 48-5347 and administer the regional transportation fund pursuant to section 48-5307, subsection B. 15. Hire legal counsel to represent the authority in any legal proceeding, accountants and other professional personnel as it deems necessary. 16. Set the priorities of the plan and administer and facilitate the distribution of monies in the regional transportation fund. 17. Delegate to the executive director any of the administrative functions, powers or duties that the board believes the executive director can competently, efficiently and properly perform. 18. Contract and enter into stipulations of any nature necessary and convenient for the full exercise of the powers granted in this chapter. 19. Do all things necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. 48-5305. Board powers The board may: 1. Adopt an administrative code that: (a) Prescribes the powers and duties of the employees of the authority that are not inconsistent with this chapter, the method of appointing board employees and methods, procedures and systems of operating and managing the board. (b) May provide for, among other things, appointing a general manager and organizing the employees of the board into units for administration, design and construction, operation, property acquisition and community relations and other units as the board deems necessary. 2. Sue and be sued. 48-5306. Court; fees A. In addition to any costs that are awarded as prescribed by statute, a court shall award fees of not more than ten thousand dollars and other expenses to any party, other than this state or a city, town or county, on the merits in an action brought by the party against the authority to challenge right-of-way actions conducted by or on behalf of the authority. B. In determining the award provided for in this section, the court shall deny or reduce the award if it finds that any of the following applies: 1. During the course of the proceeding the beneficiary of the award unduly and unreasonably protracted the final resolution of the matter. 2. The award is attributable to an intervening change in the applicable law. 3. The beneficiary of the award refused an offer of civil settlement that was at least as favorable to the party as the relief ultimately granted. 48-5307. Regional transportation fund A. A regional transportation fund is established for the authority. The fund consists of: 1. Monies received from the county transportation excise tax as provided in section 42-6106. 2. Monies appropriated by each municipality or the county. 3. Grants, gifts or donations from public or private sources. 4. Monies granted by the federal government or appropriated by the legislature. 5. Fares or other revenues collected by the authority in operating a public transportation system. 6. Monies from bonds issued by the board pursuant to article 2 of this chapter. B. Subject to the powers granted to the board in article 2 of this chapter, the fiscal agent on behalf of the authority shall administer monies paid into the regional transportation fund. C. The department of revenue shall collect all transportation excise tax monies pursuant to section 42-6106 and shall deposit them monthly pursuant to section 42-5014 in a fund designated for the regional transportation authority as the regional transportation fund. D. Except as provided in this section, the beneficial interest in the fund is the authority that levied the transportation excise tax. This state or the county does not have a beneficial interest, either legal or equitable, in the fund, except for the repayment of election expenses. E. Monies and investments in the regional transportation fund may be used and spent only as provided in this chapter. An appropriation of any nature is not required before the expenditure of any monies from the fund. F. The regional transportation fund shall be divided into three separate accounts, designated as the bond account, the construction account and the bond proceeds account. Transfers between accounts shall be made only as provided in this section or in article 2 of this chapter. G. Before the issuance of any bonds payable from the regional transportation fund as provided in article 2 of this chapter, transportation excise tax revenues shall be deposited in the construction account and spent as provided in this article. After the issuance of any bonds payable from the regional transportation fund as provided in article 2 of this chapter, transportation excise tax revenues shall be deposited in the bond account first until the bond account contains monies sufficient to meet all principal, interest or redemption requirements for the current period as required by any resolution of the board pertaining to the issuance of bonds. After all current period requirements for all of the bonds are deposited in the bond account, the balance of transportation excise tax revenues received for the current period shall be deposited in the construction account. 48-5308. Distribution from regional transportation fund A. All monies in the bond account of the regional transportation fund shall be held in trust for the owners of the bonds. Monies in the bond account: 1. Shall be paid out to paying agents or directly to the owners of the bonds pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the board authorizing the issuance of the bonds. 2. May be used to pay bond related expenses or recurring expenses pertaining to administration and payment of the bonds. B. Monies in the bond proceeds account of the regional transportation fund may be obligated or spent as directed by the board for the purposes provided by subsection C of this section. C. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, monies in the construction account of the regional transportation fund shall be spent, pledged or accumulated for the design, right-of-way purchase, construction, operation, maintenance and contiguous open space preservation purchase compatible with local environmental ordinance of, and within the expenditure limits for, each element of the regional transportation plan. D. Notwithstanding any other law, from the monies deposited in the construction account of the regional transportation fund in each fiscal year, the board shall distribute: 1. To each municipality, excluding the municipality that has the largest population in the county, the greater amount of one percent of the revenues collected from the transportation excise tax authorized pursuant to section 42-6106 or three hundred thousand dollars, to be used for purposes consistent with subsection C of this section. 2. An amount of not more than the greater of three hundred thousand dollars or one percent of the revenues collected from the transportation excise tax authorized pursuant to section 42-6106 to the regional council of governments to hire professional planning, technical and administrative staff required to accomplish plan development for the authority pursuant to section 48-5309 and to perform the responsibilities as the authority may require. E. The three hundred thousand dollar distributions prescribed by subsection D of this section are subject to: 1. Proration for any fiscal year in which a transportation excise tax authorized pursuant to section 42-6106 is collected for less than a full fiscal year. 2. Adjustment by the annual percentage change for the previous calendar year in the GDP price deflator, as defined in section 41-563, for each fiscal year after the first full fiscal year in which the transportation excise tax is collected. F. Beginning with the first fiscal year following voter approval of the regional transportation plan, monies appropriated for each of the following purposes, if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at a special or general election, by each municipality or the county in the authority shall not be less than the total amount of general monies spent for those purposes in that municipality or county for fiscal year 2003-2004 adjusted by the annual percentage change for the previous calendar year in the GDP price deflator as defined in section 41-563: 1. Roadway improvements, including controlled access highways, parkways and controlled access arterials, arterial upgrades and related grade separations. 2. Transit improvements for buses, including expansion of the bus fleet and its associated maintenance facility, expansion of express routes and associated connecting terminals, ridesharing, van pool fleet acquisition, including special projects for persons with disabilities and elderly individuals, and park and ride lots. 3. An express and light rail system. 4. Bicycle projects, including striped lanes on arterials, neighborhood bike routes and planning of bikeways focused on major regional activity center destinations. 5. Pedestrian projects on arterial and collector streets, neighborhood walkways and walkways focused on major regional activity center destinations. 48-5309. Regional transportation plan; definitions A. The authority shall develop a twenty year regional transportation plan that is subject to approval by the qualified electors of the county and financed by a transportation excise tax approved pursuant to section 42-6106 and bonds issued pursuant to article 2 of this chapter. The regional transportation plan: 1. May give priority to multimodal transportation operations and improvements along corridors where seventy-five percent or more of the adjacent census tracts had a population density of at least three thousand persons per square mile according to the most recent United States decennial census. 2. Shall include a public transportation component. 3. May, among other things: (a) Define and identify regional transportation corridors. (b) Define the transportation problems, goals and needs for each corridor. (c) Determine environmental, economic, energy and social policies to guide transportation investment decisions. (d) Determine the impact of the plan on air quality, with one of the goals of the plan being the improvement of air quality. (e) Order the priority of regional transportation corridors for development. (f) Determine the mix of alternative transportation modes appropriate for development consistent with the transportation goals and needs for each corridor. The mix may include sidewalks, rail service, buses, vans, para-transit, park and ride lots, bicycle facilities and any other facility or service reasonably related to transportation. (g) Select appropriate public transportation technology. (h) Determine the capacity for exclusive public transportation technologies. (i) Determine operating performance criteria and costs for public transportation systems. (j) Locate routes and access points to the public transportation systems. (k) Determine the ridership of public transportation systems. (l) Determine the need for landscape buffers, noise barriers, pedestrian bypasses, multiuse paths and other environmental impact mitigation measures relating to the regional transportation plan. B. The regional transportation plan may not be amended to add or delete an element or substantially change an element without prior approval of the electorate at a general or special election pursuant to subsection D of this section. The prior approval of the electorate required by this subsection is waived if a political subdivision causing changes within its jurisdiction to the regional transportation plan incurs the incremental costs of implementing the proposed changes. C. The proposition for a revised regional transportation plan considered at an election held pursuant to subsection D of this section shall adhere to the format applicable to the ballot proposition approved by the qualified electors voting on the initial regional transportation plan. D. If a substantial change occurs, the board of directors shall request the county board of supervisors to provide a ballot proposition for consideration of a revised regional transportation plan on or before the date of the next general election. The board of supervisors shall provide the proposition at the next general election. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the issue does not approve a revised regional transportation plan, the board of directors shall continue implementation of the previously approved regional transportation plan and may continue to make expenditures authorized pursuant to section 48-5308, subsection C, but may not make expenditures in excess of revenues received pursuant to section 48-5307, subsection A that are available for those purposes. E. For the purposes of this section: 1. "Present worth" means the amount calculated by using the preceding five-year average of the GDP price deflator as defined in section 41-563 to discount the respective series of estimated revenues and expenditures. 2. "Substantial change" means a change that, based on data in the transportation improvement program developed pursuant to section 48-5304, paragraph 3, results in one or more of the following conditions: (a) A present worth of estimated expenditures required to complete all elements of the regional transportation plan that exceeds the greater of: (i) The present worth of estimated revenues available to the regional transportation fund during the comparable period by ten percent or more. (ii) The original estimated revenue amount that was presented to the voters, except that estimated revenues from bond proceeds, if any, shall not exceed the bond capacity, less associated expenses, supported by estimates of unencumbered revenues for the initial ten years of authorization for the transportation excise tax. (b) An estimated cost to complete one or more elements of the regional transportation plan that exceeds the expenditure limitations of the plan as adjusted by the GDP price deflator as defined in section 41-563 by the following or greater percentages: (i) Ten percent for a single element of the plan. (ii) Fifteen percent for any two elements of the plan. (iii) Twenty percent for three or more elements of the plan. 48-5310. Five year transportation facilities construction program update The director of the department of transportation shall develop and annually update as a component of the five year transportation facilities construction program provided in section 28-6954 the use of monies expected to accrue to the county's regional transportation fund as provided in this article that are dedicated for street and highway purposes and that are in the state highway system. 48-5311. Transportation corridor priority Through their regional planning agency, the county and municipalities in the county shall list transportation corridors by priority in the regional transportation plan. The regional transportation plan may also provide a suggested construction schedule for the transportation corridors contained in the plan. 48-5312. Highway construction and maintenance A. The department of transportation shall construct and maintain the controlled access highways approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at a special or general election and financed pursuant to section 48-5308, subsection C. B. The authority may contract with municipalities in the county and with the county to allow the municipalities and county to construct the streets or highways approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at a special or general election and funded by monies distributed pursuant to section 48-5308, subsection C. C. On completion of construction, the municipality or county in which monies are spent for a project approved by a majority of qualified electors voting at a special or general election and funded by monies distributed pursuant to section 48-5308, subsection C is responsible for maintaining the project. 48-5313. Eminent domain The cities and towns or county may: 1. Exercise the right of eminent domain pursuant to title 12, chapter 8, article 2 for the purposes prescribed in this chapter on behalf of the authority. 2. Sell or lease to the authority property acquired through eminent domain proceedings. 48-5314. Election on regional transportation plan and excise tax A. The board shall: 1. Adopt a twenty-year comprehensive multimodal regional transportation plan consistent with the requirements of this article, including transportation corridors by priority and a schedule indicating the dates that construction will begin for projects contained in the plan. 2. Request by resolution certified to the county board of supervisors that the issue of levying a transportation excise tax pursuant to section 42-6106 be submitted to the qualified electors at a countywide special election or placed on the ballot at a countywide general election. Within six months after receiving a certified copy of the resolution, the county board of supervisors shall either call a special election or place the issue on the ballot of a general election, subject to the requirements of this section. B. The election ballot shall include a description of each transportation element of the regional transportation plan including a separate percentage share and dollar share of the transportation excise tax revenues allocated to each element. C. In addition to any other requirements prescribed by law, the county board of supervisors shall prepare and print a publicity pamphlet concerning the ballot question and mail one copy of the pamphlet to each household containing a registered voter in the county. The mailings may be made over a period of days but shall be mailed for delivery before the earliest date registered voters may receive early ballots for the election. The publicity pamphlet shall contain: 1. The date of the election. 2. The individual household's polling place and the time the polls will be open. 3. A summary of the principal provisions of the issue presented to the voters, including the rate of the transportation excise tax, the number of years the tax will be in effect and the projected annual and cumulative amount of revenues to be raised. 4. A statement describing the purposes for which the transportation excise tax monies may be spent as provided by law, including: (a) A summary of the regional transportation plan adopted pursuant to section 48-5309 and subsection A of this section, including a description of each transportation element of the regional transportation plan. (b) A map of proposed routes and transportation corridors of all major transportation projects and public transportation systems. (c) The percentage share and dollar amount of transportation excise tax revenues, together with other identified revenues, dedicated for each transportation element, transportation project and public transportation system, and conditions and limitations on the use of the money. 5. The form of the ballot. 6. Any arguments for or against the ballot measure. Affirmative arguments, arranged in the order in which the elections director received them, shall be placed before the negative arguments, also arranged in the order in which they were received. D. Not later than ninety days before the date of the election, a person may file with the county elections director an argument, not more than three hundred words in length, advocating or opposing the ballot measure, subject to the following requirements: 1. The person who files the argument shall also pay to the elections director a publication fee prescribed by the board of supervisors. Payment of the fee required by this paragraph, or reimbursement of the payor, constitutes sponsorship of the argument. 2. If the argument is sponsored by one or more individuals, the argument shall be signed by each sponsoring individual. 3. If the argument is sponsored by one or more organizations, the argument shall be signed by two executive officers of each organization. 4. If the argument is sponsored by one or more political committees, the argument shall be signed by each committee's chairperson or treasurer. 5. The names of persons who have signed arguments and the names of sponsoring organizations shall appear with the argument in the pamphlet. The person or persons signing the argument shall also give their residence or post office address and a telephone number, which shall not appear in the pamphlet. E. In addition to any other ballot requirements prescribed by law, the elections director shall cause the following to be printed on the official ballot: 1. The designation of the measure as follows: "Relating to county transportation excise (sales) taxes". 2. Instructions directing the voter to the full text of the official and descriptive titles containing the summary as printed in the sample ballot and posted in the polling place. The ballot may include the summary of the regional transportation plan. 3. The questions submitted to the voters as follows: I. Do you approve the regional transportation plan for ________________ county? YES ________ NO _________ (A "YES" vote indicates your approval of the proposed regional transportation plan as developed by the regional transportation authority and described in the election materials.) (A "NO" vote indicates your disapproval of the proposed regional transportation plan.) II. Do you favor the levy of a transaction privilege (sales) tax for regional transportation purposes in ____________ county? YES __________ NO __________ (A "YES" vote has the effect of imposing a transaction privilege (sales) tax in __________ county for ________ years to provide funding for the transportation projects contained in the regional transportation plan.) (A "NO" vote has the effect of rejecting the transaction privilege (sales) tax for transportation purposes in __________ county.) F. For ballot question II to be approved and implemented, both the proposed regional transportation plan and the proposed transaction privilege tax must be approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure. If ballot question I fails to be approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure, both measures fail. If ballot question I is approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure and ballot question II fails to be approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure, the proposed regional transportation plan is approved without the proposed transaction privilege tax. Not later than five years after voter approval of the regional transportation plan, the board may submit to the voters a subsequent transaction privilege tax measure to fund the previously approved regional transportation plan, and if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the measure, both the approved regional transportation plan and the approved transaction privilege tax may be implemented. G. Except as otherwise provided by this section, the election under this section shall be conducted as nearly as practicable in the manner prescribed for general elections in title 16. H. The county election officer shall account for costs specifically incurred with respect to the ballot issue under this section. I. Notwithstanding section 42-6106, subsection E, if a regional transportation authority transaction privilege tax is approved at an election held as prescribed by this section, the levy and collection of the tax shall begin on April 1 immediately following approval of the tax and may be in effect for a period of not more than twenty years. 48-5315. Utility relocation reimbursement; definition A. If county transportation excise tax monies collected pursuant to section 42-6106 are used to construct a light rail system under the regional transportation plan, all costs for the relocation, and reasonable ongoing costs related to the relocation, of utility facilities incurred as a direct result of the construction and operation of the light rail system shall be reimbursed by the light rail project to the utility. The board shall make the payments from transportation excise tax revenues within ninety days after presentation of a statement of verified expenses. The statement of verified expenses shall not include profit but may include a reasonable allocation of general overhead. The verified expenses may be reviewed and audited by the light rail operator. The audit must be concluded within ninety days and shall be conducted pursuant to standard industry accounting principles. B. If the relocated utility has existing land rights, the light rail operator shall relocate the utility with equal land rights. If the relocated utility is operating in the right-of-way under a permit, the light rail operator shall relocate the utility according to the utility's existing rights under the permit within the right-of-way. C. The light rail operator shall be fully responsible for acts, negligence or omissions of all of its employees on the project that result in damage to utility facilities. D. For the purposes of this section, "utility" means any public service corporation, licensed cable television system, licensed video service network, telephone line or telegraph line corporation or person engaged in the generation, transmission or delivery of electricity, natural gas, telephone, cable television, video, telegraph or water service, including this state or any political subdivision or agency of this state. 48-5341. Bonds payable from transportation excise taxes The board is designated as the body having sole and exclusive power to authorize and issue bonds or incur long-term obligations payable in whole or in part from monies collected from the transportation excise tax authorized pursuant to section 42-6106. The board may: 1. Issue negotiable bonds payable solely from monies paid into the bond account of the regional transportation fund in the principal amount that in the opinion of the board is necessary to provide sufficient monies for any lawful purpose for which the regional transportation fund monies may be spent, to establish reserves to secure the bonds and to provide for the payment of all other expenditures of the board incidental, necessary and convenient to carry out these purposes. 2. Issue refunding bonds if the board deems refunding expedient. 3. Refund any bonds issued by the board and payable from regional transportation fund income as authorized in this article by the issuance of refunding bonds, whether the bonds to be refunded have or have not matured. Proceeds of refunding bonds may be used to pay principal, interest or redemption premiums on refunded bonds. 4. Issue bonds partly to refund bonds then outstanding and partly for any other purpose consistent with this article. Regardless of whether or not the bonds are of such form or character as to be negotiable instruments under the terms of the uniform commercial code, the bonds are fully negotiable within the meaning of and for all purposes of the uniform commercial code. 48-5342. Bond requirements A. The bonds authorized by this article shall: 1. Be authorized by resolution of the board. 2. Bear such date or dates and shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding the earlier of twenty years from their respective dates or the date the transportation excise taxes securing the bonds cease, as the resolution or resolutions may provide. 3. Bear interest at such rate or rates, including rates that may vary from time to time, pursuant to parameters set by the board in the authorizing resolution. 4. Be in the denomination, be in the form, either coupon or registered, be executed in the manner, be payable as to principal, interest or premium in the medium of payment at the office of the state treasurer of this state or at such other place as the board provides either by automatic deposit, wire transfer or mail. 5. Be subject to such terms of redemption, at the option of either the board or the owner of the bond, as the resolution or resolutions may provide. B. The bonds may be sold at either public or private sale, above, at or below par and on terms the board determines. Bonds to fund or refund other bonds may be exchanged with the holders of bonds being funded or refunded on terms the board determines. 48-5343. Bond payment; security In connection with the issuance of the bonds authorized by this article or to secure the payment of the bonds and interest on the bonds, the board by resolution may: 1. Provide that bonds issued under this article may be paid with and secured by a pledge on all or any part of the monies paid into the bond account of the regional transportation fund, and if monies in the bond account are ever insufficient, then from any other unobligated monies in the construction account or the bond proceeds account. The board may: (a) Set the priority of lien or claim of any series or issue of bonds against any other series or issues. (b) Not abrogate or change the priority unless the affected series or issue is to be fully paid or fully provided for by the issuance of refunding bonds or the holders of the bonds affected agree in writing to the change. 2. Pledge and assign to or in trust, with a trustee appointed by the board, for the benefit of the holder or holders of the bonds all or any part of the monies paid into the bond account of the regional transportation fund as will be necessary to pay the principal of, interest on and premium, if any, on the bonds as the bonds become due. 3. Set aside, regulate and dispose of reserves and sinking funds. 4. Provide that sufficient amounts of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds may be used to fully or partly fund any and all reserves or sinking funds set up by the bond resolution. 5. Prescribe the procedure, if any, by which the terms of a contract with bondholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds the holders of which must consent to and the manner in which the consent may be given. 6. Provide for payment from the proceeds of the sale of the bonds of all legal and financial expenses incurred by the board in the issuance, sale, delivery and payment of the bonds. 7. Do any other matters, of like or different character, that may in any way affect the security and protection of the bonds. 48-5344. Pledges; liens A. A pledge made pursuant to this article is valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made. The monies pledged pursuant to this article when placed in the bond account, bond proceeds account or construction account of the regional transportation fund are immediately subject to the lien of the pledge without any future physical delivery or further act. B. A lien of any pledge is valid or binding against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the board, regardless of whether the parties have notice. When placed in the records of the board, the official resolution or trust indenture or any instrument by which this pledge is created is notice to all concerned of the creation of the pledge, and these instruments are not required to be recorded in any other place. A filing or recording of the resolution of the board creating or extending the lien or pledge in order for the pledge or lien to become fully effective is not required in any office other than in the office of the board. 48-5345. Liability; bond validity A. The members of the board or a person executing the bonds is not personally liable for the payment of the bonds. B. The bonds are valid and binding obligations of the board notwithstanding the fact that before the delivery of the bonds any of the officers whose signatures appear on the bonds cease to be officers of the board. C. From and after the sale and delivery of the bonds, the bonds are incontestable by the board or the county. 48-5346. Bond purchase The board may purchase bonds out of any monies available and cancel these bonds. 48-5347. Notice; bond issuance A. The board shall publish a notice of its intention to issue bonds under this article for at least five consecutive days in a newspaper published in this state. The last day of publication shall be at least ten days before the issuance of the bonds. B. The notice shall state the amount of the bonds to be sold and the intended date of issuance. 48-5348. Bond proceeds; distribution; expenditures A. After deducting the necessary costs and expenses of the issuance and sale of the bonds, the board shall deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, the proceeds received from the sale and delivery of bonds issued pursuant to this article in the regional transportation fund. The state treasurer or the fiscal agent shall first apply those amounts of the bond proceeds provided in the resolution issuing the bonds to all reserve and sinking funds created in the bond resolution. B. The board shall use the bond proceeds solely for the purposes provided in the bond resolution, except that, if the revenues pledged to secure the bonds ever become insufficient to pay the annual principal and interest on the bonds, the board shall order: 1. The liquidation of any investments. 2. The state treasurer or the fiscal agent to apply all of the receipts as necessary to make current all payments then due on the bonds. 48-5349. Agreement of state and county A. This state pledges to and agrees with the holders of the bonds that this state will not limit or alter the transportation excise taxes in a way that adversely affects the rights of the holders of the bonds, limit or alter the authority of the board levying a transportation excise tax in a way that prevents the imposition of sufficient transportation excise taxes to fulfill the terms of any agreements made with the holders of the bonds, or in any way impair the rights and remedies of the bondholders, until all bonds issued under this article, interest on the bonds, interest on any unpaid installments of interest and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceedings by or on behalf of the bondholders are fully met and discharged. B. The board as agent for this state may include this pledge and undertaking by this state in its resolutions and indentures securing its bonds. C. A county shall not take any action to lower or terminate any transportation excise tax. 48-5350. Taxation exemption The board is regarded as performing a governmental function in carrying out the purposes of this article and is not required to pay taxes or assessments on any of the property acquired or constructed or on the activities of the board in maintaining and caring for the real property or in the monies derived from the real property. The bonds, their transfer and the income from the bonds are at all times free from taxation in this state. 48-5351. Attorney general bond certification A. The board may submit to the attorney general any bonds to be issued under this article after all proceedings for the authorization of the bonds have been taken. On the submission of the proceedings to the attorney general, the attorney general shall investigate and determine the validity of the bonds and the regularity of all proceedings in connection with the issuance. B. If the proceedings conform to this article and if it is determined that the bonds when delivered and paid for will constitute binding and legal obligations of the board enforceable according to the terms of the bonds, the attorney general shall certify in substance on the back of each of the bonds that it is issued in accordance with the constitution and laws of this state. 48-5352. Bond obligations of the board Bonds issued pursuant to this article: 1. Are obligations of the board issuing the bonds. 2. Are payable only pursuant to the terms of the bonds. 3. Are not obligations that are general, special or otherwise of this state or the county. 4. Are not a legal debt of this state or of the county. 5. Are not enforceable against this state or that county out of any monies other than the income and revenue pledged and assigned to or in trust for the benefit of the holder or holders of the bonds. 48-5353. Bonds; legal investments Bonds issued under this article are made securities: 1. In which all of the following may properly and legally invest monies including capital in their control or belonging to them: (a) Public officers and bodies of this state. (b) Municipalities and political subdivisions of this state. (c) Insurance companies and associations and other persons carrying on an insurance business. (d) Banks, bankers, trust companies, savings banks and savings associations, including savings and loan associations, building and loan associations, investment companies and other persons carrying on a banking business. (e) Administrators, guardians, executors, trustees and other fiduciaries. (f) Other persons authorized to invest in bonds or other obligations of this state. 2. That may be deposited with and may be received by all public officers and bodies of this state and all municipalities and political subdivisions of this state for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds or other obligations of this state is authorized. 48-5354. Federal income tax considerations Title 35, chapter 3, article 7 applies to the bonds and the authority.