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210342015026600 Received: 51612015 10:58:20 AM r �,, • ®� Recorded: 05/0612015 10:59:33 AM Filed & Crane. Recorded in Official Records of Larry Cry PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUITICOUNTY CLERK r. ORDINANCE NO. 21,0 $40.00 2 3 AN'°ORbINANCE TO CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION IN THE CITY OF 4 LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO 5 THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY THE QUESTION OF REDUCING AND 6 EXTENDING THE LEVY OF A PORTION OF THE EXISTING ANNUAL 7 AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAX PLEDGED TO THE REPAYMENT OF 8 OUTSTANDING LIBRARY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BONDS FROM 9 THE AGGREGATE RATE OF ONE AND NINE TENTHS OF ONE (1.9) 10 MIL TO THE NEW RATE OF ONE AND EIGHT TENTHS OF ONE (1.8) 11 MIL ON THE DOLLAR OF ASSESSED VALUATION OF TAXABLE 12 PROPERTY IN THE CITY; TO PLEDGE NINE TENTHS OF ONE (0.9) 13 MIL OF SAID AD VALOREM TAX TO SECURE THE REPAYMENT OF 14 AN ISSUE OR ISSUES OF BONDS OF THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, 15 ARKANSAS, ISSUED UNDER AMENDMENTS NO. 30 AND NO. 72 TO ®; 16 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND ACT 920 OF 17 1993, NOT TO EXCEED THIRTY-SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS 18 ($37,000,000) IN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT, TO REFUND ONE 19 OR MORE OUTSTANDING 1SSUES OF LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION, 20 IMPROVEMENT AND REFUNDING BONDS AND TO FINANCE THE 21 COST OF ACQUIRING, CONSTRUCTING, AND EQUIPPING LAND AND 22 ADDITIONAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE CITY'S PUBLIC 23 LIBRARIES OPERATED BY CENTRAL ARKANSAS LIBRARY 24 SYSTEM; PRESCRIBING OTHER MATTERS PERTAINING THERETO; 25 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 26 27 WHEREAS, the City of Little Rock, Arkansas (the "City") is a city of the first-class duly organized 28 and existing under the laws of the State of Arkansas; and, 29 WHEREAS, the City Board of Directors (the "Board"), upon recommendation of the Board of 30 Directors of Central Arkansas Library System ("CALS"), has determined that it would be in the best 31 interests of the City, CALS and the patrons of the City's public libraries, to refund the outstanding balance 32 of one (1) or more of the City's Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2008, the City's w [Page 1 of 61 1 Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2009, in the approximate outstanding principal 2 amount of Seventeen Million, Seven Hundred Eighty Thousand Dollars ($17,780,000) presently secured 3 by the pledge of a one (1.0) mil ad valorem tax on the assessed valuation of all taxable property in the City 4 and to refund the outstanding balance of the City of Little Rock Residential Housing and Public Facilities 5 Board Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds, Series 2007 in the approximate principal amount of One 6 Million, Nine Hundred Eighty Thousand Dollars ($1,980,000 )(together with the Series 2008 and the Series 7 2009 Bonds, the "Bonds to be Refunded"), and to acquire, construct, and equip land and additional capital 8 improvements for the City public libraries and related facilities (the "Improvements") at an estimated total 9 cost for the refunding purpose and the Improvements of not to exceed Thirty-Seven Million Dollars 10 ($37,000,000); and, 11 WHEREAS, it has been determined that the cost of refunding one or more of the Bonds to be Refunded 12 (the "Refunding") and financing the cost of the Improvements, including incidental expenses and 13 expenditures in connection with accomplishing the Refunding and the Improvements and paying expenses 14 in connection with authorizing and issuing the bonds (hereinafter defined) can be financed by the issuance 15 of library refunding, construction and improvement bonds in one or more series in the aggregate principal 16 amount of not to exceed Thirty-Seven Million Dollars ($37,000,000) (the "Bonds"); and, 17 WHEREAS, the Bonds can be issued under the authority of Amendments No. 30 and No. 72 to the 18 Constitution of the State of Arkansas (the "Amendments") and Act No. 920 of the Acts of Arkansas of 19 1993, approved April 7, 1993 (Act No. 920); and, 20 WHEREAS, the City can pay the principal of and interest on the Bonds from the proceeds of an ad 21 valorem tax which is pledged to the repayment of the Series 2008 and Series 2009 Bonds (the "2008 Tax") 22 by reducing the 2008 Tax from the present rate of one (1.0) mil to a new rate of nine tenths of one (0.9) mil 23 on the dollar of the assessed value of taxable real and personal property in the City, to be levied under the 24 authority of the Amendments and Act No. 920 and extending the collection of the new rate of nine tenths 25 of one (0.9) mil as a continuing debt service tax pledged to the repayment of the Bonds; and, 26 WHEREAS, the City's Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2012 are secured by the 27 pledge of a separate nine tenths of one (0.9) mil ad valorem tax (the "2012 Tax") which is a continuing debt 28 service tax and will not be reduced or otherwise impaired by the proposed reduction and extension of the 29 2008 tax from one (1.0) mil to nine tenths of one (0.9) mil; and, 30 WHEREAS, the purpose of this ordinance is to submit to the electors of the City the question of issuing 31 bonds under the Amendments and Act No. 920 at a special election to be held on July 14, 2015, and to 32 reduce and extend the levy of the 2008 Tax of one (1.0) mil, currently pledged to the Series 2008 and the 33 Series 2009 Bonds, to a new tax rate of nine tenths of one (0.9) mil on the dollar of the assessed value of 34 the taxable real and personal property within the City (the "Tax") and to approve the levy of the Tax at the 35 new rate as a continuing debt service tax pledged to the repayment of the Bonds to be issued by the City. [Page 2 of 6] 1 NOW, 1HEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY 2 OF LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: 3 Section 1. That there be, and there is hereby called, a special election to be held on Tuesday, July 14, 4 2015, at which special election there shall be submitted to the electors of the City the question of issuing 5 Bonds under the Amendments and Act No. 920, for the purposes specified in Section 2 hereof. The 6 maximum rate of the tax to retire the Bonds shall be stated on the ballot. 7 Section 2. The ballot shall be in substantially the following form: 8 9 PROPOSED REFUNDING OF OUTSTANDING LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION 10 AND IMPROVEMENT AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BONDS, 11 ISSUANCE OF NEW LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT AND 12 REFUNDING BONDS AND LEVY OF AD VALOREM TAX. 13 14 Vote on the measure by placing an "x" in the square opposite the question either "FOR" or "AGAINST": 15 FOR the reduction of the existing one (1.0) mil ad valorem tax on the assessed value of all 16 taxable real and personal property within the City of Little Rock, Arkansas which is 17 pledged to secure the repayment of the City's outstanding Library Construction and 18 Improvement Bonds, Series 2008 and the City's Library Construction and Improvement 19 Bonds, Series 2009 to the new ad valorem tax rate of nine tenths of one (0.9) mil on the 20 assessed value of all taxable real and personal property within the City of Little Rock, 21 Arkansas, with the new nine tenths of one (0.9) mil tax to be extended and to be pledged 22 as a continuing debt service tax to the repayment of an issue or issues of bonds not to 23 exceed Thirty -Seven Million Dollars ($37,000,000) in aggregate principal amount, to 24 refund one or more of the City's outstanding Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 25 2008, the City's Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2009, and the City of Little 26 Rock Residential Housing and Public Facilities Board Capital Improvement Revenue 27 Bonds, Series 2007, and to finance the acquiring, constructing and equipping of land and 28 additional capital improvements for the public city libraries owned and operated by the 29 City of Little Rock and Central Arkansas Library System and to authorize the issuance of 30 the bonds on such terms and conditions as shall be approved by the City. 31 32 AGAINST the reduction of the existing one (1.0) mil ad valorem tax on the assessed value 33 of all taxable real and personal property within the City of Little Rock, Arkansas which is 34 pledged to secure the repayment of the City's outstanding Library Construction and 35 Improvement Bonds, Series 2008 and the City's Library Construction and Improvement [Page 3 of 6] 1 Bonds, Series 2009 to the new ad valorem tax rate of nine tenths of one (0.9) mil on the 2 assessed value of all taxable real and personal property within the City of Little Rock, 3 Arkansas, with the new nine tenths of one (0.9) mil tax to be extended and to be pledged 4 as a continuing debt service tax to the repayment of an issue or issues of bonds not to 5 exceed Thirty-Seven Million Dollars ($37,000,000) in aggregate principal amount, to 6 refund one or more of the City's outstanding Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 7 2008, the City's Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2009, and the City of Little 8 Rock Residential Housing and Public Facilities Board Capital Improvement Revenue 9 Bonds, Series 2007, and to finance the acquiring, constructing and equipping of land and 10 additional capital improvements for the public city libraries owned and operated by the 11 City of Little Rock and Central Arkansas Library System and to authorize the issuance of 12 the bonds on such terms and conditions as shall be approved by the City. 13 14 If the measure is approved, there may be levied an ad valorem property tax on the assessed value of all 15 taxable real and personal property within the City of Little Rock at the reduced rate of nine tenths of one 16 (0.9) mil on the dollar of assessed value of the taxable real and personal property in the City. The collection 17 of nine tenths of one (0.9) mil of the existing one and nine tenths of one (1.9) mil tax has been previously 18 pledged to secure the repayment of the City's outstanding Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, 19 Series 2012 and such tax will continue to be levied and collected until the Bonds to which that nine tenths 20 of one (0.9) mil tax is pledged have been paid in full. If approved by the electors, the remaining nine tenths 21 of one (0.9) mil of the tax will be extended and pledged to the repayment of the principal of and interest on 22 one or more issues of library refunding construction and improvement bonds in the aggregate principal 23 amount of not to exceed Thirty-Seven Million Dollars ($37,000,000) for the purposes of refunding one or 24 more of the City's Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 2008, the City's Construction and 25 Improvement Bonds, Series 2009, and the City of Little Rock Residential Housing and Public Facilities 26 Board Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds, Series 2007, and to finance the costs of acquiring, construction 27 and equipping of land and additional capital improvements and paying costs incidental to the issuance of 28 such bonds for the benefit of the City public libraries owned and operated by the City of Little Rock and 29 Central Arkansas Library System. In addition, the City currently levies a three and three tenths of one 30 (3.30) mil ad valorem tax which is used exclusively for the operation and maintenance of the City's public 31 libraries. 32 Section 3. The City Clerk is authorized and directed to give notice of the election by one (1) publication 33 in a newspaper having general circulation within the City. Publication shall be made not less than ten (10) 34 days prior to the date of the election or as otherwise provided by the laws of the State of Arkansas. [Page 4 of 6] 1 Section 4. The election shall be held and conducted and the vote canvassed and the results declared 2 under the law and in the manner now provided for municipal elections unless otherwise provided in the 3 Amendments and Act 920, and only qualified electors of the City shall have the right to vote at the election. 4 Section 5. That the results of the election shall be certified by the Pulaski County Election 5 Commissioners and proclaimed by the Mayor, and his Proclamation shall be published one time in a 6 newspaper having general circulation in the City, which Proclamation shall advise that the results as 7 proclaimed shall be conclusive unless suit challenging the results is filed in the Circuit Court of Pulaski 8 County within thirty (30) days after the date of publication. 9 Section 6. That the Mayor and City Clerk, for and on behalf of the City, be and are hereby authorized 10 and directed to do any and all things necessary to call and hold the special election as herein provided and, 11 if the issuance of the Bonds is approved by the electors, to cause the Tax to be collected in accordance with 12 the Constitutional Amendments and Act 920 of 1993 and to perform all acts of whatever nature necessary 13 to carry out the authority conferred by this ordinance. 14 Section 7. A copy of this ordinance shall be given to the Pulaski County Board of Election 15 Commissioners and to the Pulaski County Clerk, so that the necessary election officials and supplies may 16 be provided. 17 Section 8. Subject to the approval of the electors, the issuance of the bonds for the purposes and the 18 amount specified in Section 2 of this ordinance is hereby authorized. The Bonds shall be issued under the 19 authority of the Amendments and Act 920. 20 Section 9. The City hereby approves and ratifies the engagements of Crews & Associates, Inc., as 21 underwriter for the bond financing, and Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Attorneys at Law, as bond 22 counsel. 23 Section 10. This ordinance shall constitute an "official intent" under United States Treasury Regulation 24 Section 1.150-2 for the reimbursement from proceeds of the Bonds for expenditures made by the City prior 25 to the date the Bonds are issued for Capital Improvements and expenses of authorizing and issuing the 26 Bonds. 27 Section 11. The provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be separable and, if any, provision 28 shall for any reason be held illegal or invalid, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this ordinance. 29 Section 12. All ordinances and parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of 30 such conflict. 31 Section 13. Emergency. It is hereby ascertained and declared that there is an immediate need for the 32 City to take advantage of a favorable opportunity to refund its outstanding Library Construction and 33 Improvement Bonds, Series 2008, its outstanding Library Construction and Improvement Bonds, Series 34 2009 and the City of Little Rock Residential Housing and Public Facilities Board Capital Improvement 35 Revenue Bonds, Series 2007, that such refunding and the funding of the acquisition, construction and [Page 5 of 6] 1 equipping of land and additional capital improvements can be accomplished with the reduction of the 2 current aggregate capital improvement ad valorem tax from one and nine tenths of one (1.9) mils to a new 3 ad valorem tax of one and eight tenths of one (1.8) mil, and the extension and pledge of the new nine tenths 4 of one (0.9) mil tax to secure repayment of the proposed Bonds; and that time is of the essence to place the 5 question before the voters at the special election called July 14, 2015. It is, therefore declared that an 6 emergency exists and this ordinance being necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health 7 and safety shall be in full force and take effect immediately from and after its passage. 8 PASSED: May 5, 2015 9 ATTEST: APPRO / D• 10 /1/--- 11 • ` ►► c------- 12 usan gl y, ity Clerk ance Hines, Vice -Mayor 13 APPR . ' D TO LEGAL FORM: 14 15 16 Thomas M. Carpenter, city Atto 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 // 35 // [Page 6 of 6]