This section says when a redevelopment corporation may or must dissolve, what must be paid first, and how project title, surplus money, and tax exemptions are handled.
(a) After termination of any tax exemption granted pursuant to section 53-38, whether by expiration or by any other cause, or if prior thereto the redevelopment corporation elects to pay to the county the total of (1) all accrued taxes for which the exemption was granted and received, (2) interest at the rate of five per cent a year thereon, and (3) any additional amount with or without interest, not exceeding five per cent a year, prescribed in the contract between the redevelopment agency and the corporation as a condition precedent to the enjoyments of the privileges granted by this section, the redevelopment corporation may voluntarily dissolve, and title to the project may be conveyed in fee to the owner or owners of its capital stock or to any corporation designated by it or them for the purpose, or the redevelopment corporation may be dissolved and reconstituted pursuant to appropriate laws relating to the formation and conduct of corporations, after providing, in any case, for the payment of all current operating expenses, taxes, indebtedness and all accrued interest thereon, and the par value of and accrued dividends on the outstanding stock of the redevelopment corporation. If, after making the provision and after the conveyance of the project, a cash surplus remains in the treasury of the redevelopment corporation, the cash surplus shall, upon dissolution, be paid into the redevelopment fund of the county. After the dissolution and conveyance or the reconstitution, any tax exemption granted to the redevelopment corporation pursuant to section 53-38 shall cease and terminate, and the provisions of this part regulating redevelopment corporations only shall become and be inapplicable to the project. (b) If prior to the expiration of the thirty-five-year period the project is sold for any reason, the redevelopment corporation shall dissolve and any tax exemption granted to the redevelopment corporation pursuant to section 53-38 shall cease and terminate. In such case the stockholders and income debenture certificate holders shall in no event receive more than the par value of their stock and the face value of their income debenture certificates with accrued and unpaid dividends or interest upon such stock and income debenture certificates, and any remaining surplus shall be paid into the redevelopment fund of the agency. (c) In no event shall a redevelopment corporation be voluntarily dissolved unless provision is made for the payment in full of the remaining balance of principal and interest due or unpaid upon any mortgage on its property or any part thereof, but any project may, with the consent of the agency, be conveyed and transferred to the agency subject to the mortgage and accrued interest. (d) Unless the agency consents to the voluntary dissolution of a redevelopment corporation, the corporation shall not dissolve except in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section or upon the expiration of the period of corporate existence as fixed by its articles. (e) The contract with the agency may contain such other provisions for the dissolution of the redevelopment corporation as may be deemed advisable, not inconsistent with the provisions of this section. (f) Upon dissolution as provided in this section, the provisions of this part regulating redevelopment corporations only shall become and be inapplicable to the project and its owner or owners. (g) Nothing in this section shall have the effect of releasing the successors in interest of the redevelopment corporation from covenants, conditions, restrictions, and limitations running with the land and not appropriate solely to a redevelopment corporation. [L 1949, c 379, §19; RL 1955, §143-35; HRS ]