The West Virginia commissioner of highways may pay the cost as defined hereinabove of any one or more such bridges by the issuance of bridge revenue bonds of the state, by a resolution of the commissioner which shall recite an estimate by the commissioner of such cost, the principal and interest of which bonds shall be payable solely from the special fund herein provided for such payment. The commissioner, after any such issue of bonds or simultaneously therewith, may issue further issues of bonds to pay the cost of any other one or more of such bridges, in the manner and subject to all of the provisions herein contained as to the bonds first mentioned in this section. All such bonds shall have and are hereby declared to have all the qualities of negotiable instruments under the Uniform Commercial Code of this state. Such bonds shall bear interest at not more than seven percent per annum, payable semiannually, and shall mature in not more than forty years from their date or dates and may be made redeemable at the option of the state, to be exercised by the commissioner, at such price and under such terms and conditions as the commissioner may fix prior to issuance of such bonds. The commissioner shall determine the form of such bonds, including coupons to be attached thereto to evidence the right of interest payments, which bonds shall be signed by the Governor and the commissioner, under the great seal of the state, attested by the Secretary of State, and the coupons attached thereto shall bear the facsimile signature of the commissioner. In case any of the officers whose signatures appear on the bonds or coupons shall cease to be such officers before the delivery of such bonds, such signatures shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if they had remained in office until such delivery. The commissioner shall fix the denominations of such bonds, the principal and interest of which shall be payable at the Office of the Treasurer of the State of West Virginia, at the capitol of said state, or, at the option of the holder, at some bank or trust company in the city of New York to be named in the bonds, either in lawful money or in gold coin of the United States, of or equal to the then current standard of weight and fineness, as may be determined by the commissioner. Such bonds shall be exempt from taxation by the State of West Virginia or any county or municipality therein. The commissioner may provide for the registration of such bonds in the name of the owner as to principal alone and as to both principal and interest under such terms and conditions as the commissioner may determine, and shall sell such bonds in such manner as he may determine to be for the best interest of the state, taking into consideration the financial responsibility of the purchaser and the terms and conditions of the purchase and especially the availability of the proceeds of the bonds when required for payment of the cost of the bridges, such sale to be made at a price not lower than a price which, when computed upon standard tables of bond values, will show a net return of not more than eight percent per annum to the purchaser upon the amount paid therefor.
The proceeds of such bonds shall be used solely for the payment of the cost of the bridges, and shall be checked out by the commissioner and under such further restrictions, if any, as the commissioner may provide. If the proceeds of such bonds, by error or calculation or otherwise, shall be less than the cost of the bridge or bridges, additional bonds may in like manner be issued to provide the amount of such deficit, and, unless otherwise provided in the trust agreement hereinafter mentioned, shall be deemed to be of the same issue and shall be entitled to payment from the same fund, without preference or priority of the bonds first issued for the same bridge or bridges. If the proceeds of bonds issued for any bridge or bridges shall exceed the cost thereof, the surplus shall be paid into the fund hereinafter provided for payment of the principal and interest of such bonds. Such fund may be used for the purchase of any of the outstanding bonds payable from such fund at the market price, but at not exceeding the price, if any, at which such bonds shall in the same year be redeemable, and all bonds redeemed or purchased shall forthwith be canceled and shall not again be issued.
Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds, the commissioner may under like restrictions issue temporary bonds with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive bonds upon the issuance of the latter. Such revenue bonds may be issued without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things than those proceedings, conditions and things which are specified and required by this article or by the Constitution of the state.