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<br />- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Amendments to Reflect to CWCB is Not a Lender of Last Resort <br /> <br /> <br />37-60-121(1)(b)an. (IV). and (V) Colorado Revised Statutes. is amended to read: <br /> <br />(1) (a) There is hereby created a fund to be known as the Colorado water conservation board <br />construction fund, which shall consist of all moneys which may be appropriated thereto by <br />the general assembly or which may be otherwise made available to it by the general assembly <br />and such charges that may become apart thereof under the terms of section 37-60-119, All <br />interest earned from the investment of moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund and <br />become a part thereof, Such fund shall be a continuing fund to be expended in the manner <br />specified in section 37-60-122 and shall not revert to the general fund of the state at the end <br />of any fiscal year. <br />(b) In the consideration of making expenditures from the fund, the board shall be guided by <br />the following criteria: <br />(I) The first priority of the moneys available to the fund shall be devoted to proj ects <br />which will increase the beneficial consumptive use of Colorado's undeveloped compact <br />entitled waters; <br />(II) The balance of the moneys available to the fund shall be devoted to proj ects for the <br />repair and rehabilitation of existing water storage and delivery systems, controlled <br />maintenance of the satellite monitoring system authorized pursuant to section 37 -80-102 <br />(10), and for investment in water management activities and studies as provided in <br />section 37 60 119 (3); <br />(m) The board's participation in the constlUction cost of a project shall be repaid and the <br />board's costs or its participation in any feasibility studies shall be repaid to the board <br />when constlUction on a project commences; <br />(IV) The board shall participate in only those projects which can repay the board's <br />investment. Service charges and other terms of repayment shall be established bv the <br />board, Grants shall not be made, unless specifically authorized by the general assembly <br />acting by bill, and sorvieo chffi"gos and othor forms of ropaymeflt shall bo established by <br />the board, <br />(V) All other means of financing shall be thoroughly 6-xplorcd beforc use is made of fund <br />ffiolleys; <br /> <br />Discussion <br /> <br />The deletion in (II) above is in response to the previous deletion of37-60-119(3), (Page <br /> <br />2) <br /> <br />The revisions to (IV) are grammatical clarifications to the paragraph, <br />The deletion of (V) eliminates an historical mis-interpretation of the use of the <br />Construction Fund, (V) has been incorrectly interpreted as meaning that the ConstlUction Fund <br />should be the "lender of last resort", Since the inception of the ConstlUction Fund, loans have <br />been made to borrowers who qualify for loans from other financial institutions, The purpose of <br />the fund is not to be the lender of last resort but rather to provide a service to the water users of <br />the state in helping develop the state's compact entitlements, There is no clarifying language in <br />(V) as to the outcome of the exploration of the "other means of financing", That is, after the <br />exploration of other financing has been made, it is not clear whether the construction fund <br />moneys can be used or not. Therefore, staff recommends that (V) should to eliminated since it is <br />vague and is misleading in its interpretation, <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />I <br />