80-12-216. Agricultural loan guaranty fund. (1) The authority shall create an agricultural loan guaranty fund. The fund must be held by a trustee or other fiduciary designated by the authority. There must be deposited into the fund amounts, insurance fees, premiums, and such other revenues and assets as the authority considers necessary to comply with any contract or agreement entered into by the authority under this chapter. The authority may borrow from and deposit in the agricultural loan guaranty fund up to $20,000,000 from any available state fund, including funds of the Montana board of housing.

(2) The amounts in the fund must be used to satisfy any claim resulting from a defaulted loan or other credit agreement. The amounts in the fund may also be used for any other purpose prescribed by the authority in accordance with guaranty contracts with financial institutions entered into pursuant to this chapter, including without limitation the protection of the interest of the authority in loans during periods of delinquency or upon default.

(3) The minimum reserve requirement for the agricultural loan guaranty fund must be such amount as may be provided in an agreement, resolution, or indenture with the holders of bonds issued under this chapter, but not in excess of the aggregate annual payments due under the loans or other credit agreements guaranteed by the authority. No loan or other credit agreement may be guaranteed by the authority if the amount of money available in the agricultural loan guaranty fund would be less than the minimum reserve requirement.

(4) In order to assure the maintenance of the agricultural loan guaranty fund, the authority shall, on or before September 1 in each year preceding the convening of the legislature, deliver to the governor a certificate stating the sum, if any, required to restore the agricultural loan guaranty fund to the minimum reserve requirement. The governor shall include in the executive budget submitted to the legislature the sum required to restore the agricultural loan guaranty fund to the minimum reserve requirement. Nothing contained herein shall obligate the legislature to make an appropriation for this purpose.

(5) All amounts remitted to the authority under this section constitute loans to the authority and must be repaid to the state treasury without interest from available operating revenues of the authority in excess of amounts required for the guarantee of loans.