(a) Except as authorized by § 10-639 of this subtitle, to finance site acquisition, design, construction, equipping, and furnishing of any segment of a sports entertainment facility, the Authority shall comply with this section. (b) (1) The Authority shall have received a written request for financing and construction management services from the State, a county, or a local government in which the sports entertainment facility is located or to be located or a nonprofit organization that will own or operate the sports entertainment facility. (2) The request shall include: (i) the location of the proposed sports entertainment facility; (ii) the amount, source, and timing of funding not including Authority bonds which may be issued to finance the proposed sports entertainment facility; and (iii) a description of the anticipated use of the proposed sports entertainment facility. (c) The Authority shall provide the fiscal committees of the General Assembly, at least 45 days before seeking approval of the Board of Public Works for each bond issue or other borrowing, a comprehensive financing plan for the relevant segment of the facility. (d) The Authority shall obtain the approval of the Board of Public Works of the proposed bond issue, the financing plan, and the agreement under subsection (e) of this section. (e) The Authority may not issue bonds to finance a sports entertainment facility until the Authority secures a written agreement with the State, county, or local government in which the sports entertainment facility is located or a nonprofit organization that will own or operate the sports entertainment facility, as approved by the Board of Public Works, under which: (1) the source of funding and the order in which funds will be spent is described; and (2) the State, county, local government, or nonprofit organization agrees to: (i) own, market, promote, and operate or contract for the marketing, promotion, and operation of the sports entertainment facility in a manner that maximizes the facility's economic return; (ii) maintain and repair or contract for the maintenance and repair of the sports entertainment facility so as to keep the sports entertainment facility in first-class operating condition; and (iii) any other terms or conditions deemed necessary or appropriate by the Authority. (f) On or before December 31 each year, a county or local government in which a sports entertainment facility financed in whole or in part under this subtitle is located or a nonprofit organization that owns or operates a sports entertainment facility shall report to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, in accordance with § 2-1257 of the State Government Article, on the sports entertainment facility's assessment of the maintenance and repair needed to keep the facility in operating order. (g) (1) A bond issued to finance a sports entertainment facility: (i) is a limited obligation of the Authority payable solely from money pledged by the Authority to the payment of the principal of and the premium and interest on the bond or money made available to the Authority for that purpose; (ii) is not a debt, liability, or pledge of the faith and credit or the taxing power of the State, the Authority, or any other governmental unit but is only a limited obligation of the Authority payable solely from money made available to the Authority for that purpose; and (iii) may not give rise to any pecuniary liability of the State, the Authority, or any other governmental unit but is only a limited obligation of the Authority payable solely from money pledged by the Authority. (2) The issuance of a bond to finance a sports entertainment facility is not directly, indirectly, or contingently a moral or other obligation of the State, the Authority, or any other governmental unit to levy or pledge any tax or to make an appropriation to pay the bond. (3) Each bond shall state on its face the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection. (h) The sole source of payment for bonds issued for a sports entertainment facility shall be money on deposit in the Sports Entertainment Facilities Financing Fund.
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