When the governing body of a county requests the coordinator of elections to have the state finance the acquisition of a specified number of voting machines under §§ 2-9-112 – 2-9-114, the governing body of the county and the coordinator of elections shall enter into an agreement to be known as a “contract, lease and option,” subject to the following requirements:

(1) The original lease term shall be for a period agreed to by the governing body of the county and the coordinator of elections. The county shall have the exclusive right and option to extend the term of the lease from year to year for periods of one (1) year at a time for an agreed period. The total lease period shall in no case exceed twenty (20) years.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 2-9-112

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) The rentals prescribed for the original term and for each of the full number of years for which the lease may be extended shall not be less than the amounts required in each of such years to amortize the total amount of bonds issued to defray the cost of the machines.
(3) The governing body of the county shall agree, in each effective year of the lease, to maintain the voting machines.
(4) If the governing body of the county fails or neglects to pay any of the rentals prescribed, the commissioner of finance and administration shall retain the sum necessary for such payment out of any state funds distributable to the county for any purpose. No statutory requirement that any distributable, state collected, locally shared funds shall be used exclusively for a designated purpose shall be construed as preventing the commissioner of finance and administration from taking out of such fund.
(5) The contract, lease and option may contain any other reasonable provision deemed necessary and desirable by the commissioner, the coordinator of elections or the governing body of the county.
(6) Subject to all of the above, when the governing body of a county requests the coordinator of elections to have the state finance the cost of modifying its voting machines in order to comply with the specifications of this chapter, the governing body of the county and the coordinator of elections shall enter into an agreement to be known as a “voting machine loan agreement.” The agreement shall be subject to all the terms and conditions as if the county were purchasing machines. The agreement shall provide that the state maintain a lien on such machines until such agreement is satisfied and that such agreements are subject to an annual interest rate of six percent (6%).
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