The board of commissioners of the county in which any such school district is located is hereby authorized to issue bonds at one time or from time to time for the purpose of refunding or funding the  principal or interest of any bonds of such school district then outstanding. Such refunding or funding bonds shall be issued in the name of the school district and they may be sold or delivered in exchange for or upon the extinguishment of the obligations or indebtedness refunded or funded. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, such refunding and funding bonds shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 159 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., the Local Government Finance Act. The tax-levying body or bodies authorized by law to levy taxes for the payment of the bonds, the principal or interest of which shall be refunded or funded, shall levy annually a special tax on all taxable property in such school district sufficient to pay the principal and interest of said refunding or funding bonds as the same become due. (1955, c. 1372, art. 13, s. 3; 1981, c. 423, s. 1.)