1.1 A Public Agency’s Authority to Borrow

1.1 A Public Agency’s Authority to Borrow

All public agencies are subject to the California Constitution, and as a general rule, they have only the powers that are expressly granted to them, are fairly implied from the powers expressly granted, or are essential to the declared objectives and purposes of the governmental entity.39 This means that for a public agency to issue debt or generate revenues, state law must expressly authorize the public agency to do so. This authority may be contained in the statutes that form the agency (“organic statutes”) (See Section 1.1.1) or they may be contained in statutes that broadly apply to public agencies (“general bond statutes”) (See Section1.1.2). Charter cities are provided the authority to borrow under their charters. (See Section 1.1.3)