(1) An authority has all the powers
necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of
this article 31, including the power to:
(a) Sue and to be sued;
(b) Adopt and alter a seal;
(c) Have perpetual succession;
(d) Make, and from time to time amend and repeal, bylaws, orders, rules, and
regulations to effectuate the provisions of this article 31;
(e) Undertake county revitalization projects;
(f) Make and execute any and all contracts and other instruments which it
may deem necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers under this article
31, including contracts for advances, loans, grants, and contributions from the
federal government or any other source;
(g) Arrange for the furnishing or repair by any person or public body of
services, privileges, works, streets, roads, public utilities, or educational or other
facilities for or in connection with a project of the authority;
(h) Dedicate property acquired or held by the authority for public works,
improvements, facilities, utilities, and other purposes;
(i) Agree, in connection with any of the authority's contracts, to any
conditions that the authority deems reasonable and appropriate under this article
31, including conditions attached to federal financial assistance, and to include in
any contract made or let in connection with any project of the authority provisions
to fulfill such conditions as it may deem reasonable and appropriate;
(j) Arrange with the county or other relevant public body to plan, replan,
zone, or rezone any part of the area of the county or other public body in connection
with any project proposed or being undertaken by the authority under this article
31;
(k) Enter, with the consent of the owner, any building or property in order to
make surveys or appraisals and to obtain an order for this purpose from a court of
competent jurisdiction if entry is denied or resisted;
(l) Acquire any property by purchase, lease, option, gift, grant, bequest,
devise, or otherwise to acquire any interest in property by condemnation, including
a fee simple absolute title, in the manner provided by the laws of the state for the
exercise of the power of eminent domain by any other public body. Property already
devoted to a public use may be acquired in a like manner; except that no property
belonging to the federal government or to a public body may be acquired without
its consent. Any acquisition of any interest in property by condemnation by an
authority must be approved as part of the county revitalization plan or the
substantial modification of the county revitalization plan, as provided in section 30-31-109, must be approved by a majority vote of the governing body in which the
property is located, and must satisfy the requirements of section 30-31-106.
(m) Hold, improve, clear, or prepare for redevelopment any property acquired
by condemnation by an authority;
(n) Mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber or dispose of its
property;
(o) Insure any property or operations of the authority against any risks or
hazards; except that no provision of any other law with respect to the planning or
undertaking of projects or the acquisition, clearance, or disposition of property by
public bodies may restrict an authority from exercising powers under this article 31
with respect to a project of the authority unless the general assembly so states;
(p) (I) Invest any of the authority's money not required for immediate
disbursement in property or in securities in which public bodies may legally invest
money subject to their control pursuant to part 6 of article 75 of title 24, and to
redeem such bonds as the authority has issued at the redemption price established
therein or to purchase such bonds at less than redemption price. All such bonds
issued by and then redeemed or purchased by an authority are canceled.
(II) Deposit any money not required for immediate disbursement in any
depository authorized in section 24-75-603. For the purpose of making such
deposits, the authority may appoint, by written resolution, one or more persons to
act as custodians of the money of the authority. Such persons shall give surety
bonds in such amounts and form and for such purposes as the authority requires.
(III) Borrow money and apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, and
contributions from the federal government or any other source for any of the
purposes of this article 31 and to give such security as the federal government or
other lender may require;
(IV) Make appropriations and expenditures of its funds; and
(V) Set up, establish, and maintain general, separate, or special funds and
bank accounts or other accounts as it deems necessary to carry out the purposes of
this article 31;
(q) Make and submit, or resubmit to the governing body for appropriate
action, the authority's proposed plans and modifications to those plans as
necessary for the carrying out of the purposes of this article 31. Such plans must
include:
(I) A roadmap to assist the county in its preparation of a workable program
for utilizing appropriate private and public resources to take advantage of
revitalization areas, to encourage needed county revitalization, to provide for the
redevelopment of revitalization areas, or to undertake such activities as may be
suitably employed to achieve the objectives of such a workable program, which may
include provisions for:
(A) The rehabilitation or conservation of revitalization areas or portions of
those areas by replanning, removing congestion, providing public improvements,
and encouraging the rehabilitation and repair of deteriorated or deteriorating
structures; and
(B) The clearance and redevelopment of revitalization areas or portions of
those areas;
(II) County revitalization plans;
(III) Plans for the relocation of those individuals, families, and business
concerns situated in the county revitalization area which will be displaced by the
county revitalization project. These relocation plans may include data setting forth
a feasible method for the temporary relocation of such individuals, families, and
business concerns and showing that there will be provided, in the county
revitalization area or in other areas not generally less desirable in regard to public
utilities and public and commercial facilities, and at rents or prices within the
financial means of such individuals, families, and business concerns, decent, safe,
and sanitary dwellings and commercial spaces equal in number to and available to
such individuals, families, and business concerns and reasonably accessible to their
places of employment or business.
(IV) Plans for undertaking a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of
buildings and improvements;
(V) Plans for the enforcement of state and local laws, codes, and regulations
relating to:
(A) The use of land;
(B) The use and occupancy of buildings;
(C) Building improvements; and
(D) The repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and
improvements; and
(VI) Financing plans, maps, plats, appraisals, title searches, surveys, studies,
and other preliminary plans and work pertinent to any proposed plans or
modifications;
(r) Make reasonable relocation payments to or with respect to individuals,
families, and business concerns situated in the county revitalization area that will
be displaced as provided in subsection (1)(q)(III) of this section for moving expenses
and actual direct losses of property including, for business concerns, goodwill and
lost profits that are reasonably related to relocation of the business, resulting from
their displacement for which reimbursement or compensation is not otherwise
made, including the making of such payments financed by the federal government;
(s) Develop, test, and report methods and techniques for taking advantage of
the revitalization areas within the county and carry out demonstrations and other
activities for taking advantage of the revitalization areas; and
(t) Rent or provide by other means, including accepting the use of suitable
quarters furnished by the relevant county or any other public body, suitable
quarters for the use of the authority and equip such quarters with furniture,
furnishings, equipment, records, and supplies as the authority deems necessary to
enable it to exercise its powers under this article 31.
(2) No authority has power to levy or assess ad valorem taxes, personal
property taxes, or any other form of taxes including special assessments against
any property.
(3) No municipality is required to provide services within the boundaries of
the county revitalization area or to provide or expand infrastructure or facilities to
serve a county revitalization project; except that the authority or county and a
municipality may enter into an intergovernmental agreement regarding the
provision of services within the boundaries of the county revitalization area or to
provide or expand infrastructure or facilities to service a county revitalization
project.
(4) Nothing in this article 31 shall be construed to affect the authority of a
municipality to regulate and plan for the use of land or affect any agreement
between a municipality and a landowner or public body relating to the use or
development of land.