§ 3654 — General powers of the authority

§ 3654. General powers of the authority. Except as otherwise limited\nby this title, the authority shall have the following powers in addition\nto those specially conferred elsewhere in this title, subject only to\nagreements with bondholders:\n 1. to sue and be sued;\n 2. to have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;\n 3. to make and alter by-laws for its organization and management and,\nsubject to agreements with its bondholders, to make and alter rules and\nregulations governing the exercise of its powers and fulfillment of its\npurposes under this title;\n 4. to make and execute contracts and all other instruments or\nagreements necessary or convenient to carry out any powers and functions\nexpressly given in this title;\n 5. to commence any action to protect or enforce any right conferred\nupon it by any law, contract or other agreement;\n 6. to borrow money and issue bonds, or to refund the same, and to\nprovide for the rights of the holders of its bonds;\n 7. as security for the payment of the principal of and interest on any\nbonds issued by it pursuant to this title and any agreements made in\nconnection therewith and for its obligations under bond facilities, to\npledge all or any part of its revenues or assets;\n 8. to procure insurance, letters of credit or other credit enhancement\nwith respect to its bonds, or facilities for the payment of tenders of\nsuch bonds or facilities for the payment upon maturity of short-term\nnotes not renewed;\n 9. to enter into interest rate exchange or similar arrangements with\nany person under such terms and conditions as the authority may\ndetermine, not inconsistent with the general laws of this state and\nother provisions of this title, including, without limitation,\nprovisions as to default or early termination and indemnification by the\nauthority or any other party thereto for loss of benefits as a result\nthereof; provided, however, that such exchanges or similar arrangements\nshall be limited to fifty percent of the amount authorized in\nsubdivision one of section thirty-six hundred fifty-six of this article\nto pay the financeable costs described in paragraph (a) of subdivision\neleven of section thirty-six hundred fifty-one of this article;\n 10. to procure insurance, letters of credit or other credit\nenhancement with respect to arrangements described in subdivision nine\nof this section;\n 11. to accept gifts, grants, loans or contributions of funds or\nfinancial or other aid in any form from the county, state or federal\ngovernment or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or from any other\nsource and to expend the proceeds for any of its corporate purposes in\naccordance with the provisions of this title;\n 12. subject to the provisions of any contract with bondholders, to\ninvest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or any funds not\nrequired for immediate use or disbursement, at the discretion of the\nauthority, in (a) obligations of the state or the United States\ngovernment, (b) obligations the principal and interest of which are\nguaranteed by the state or the United States government, (c)\ncertificates of deposit, whether negotiable or non-negotiable, and\nbanker's acceptances of any of the fifty largest banks in the United\nStates which bank, at the time of investment, has an outstanding\nunsecured, uninsured and unguaranteed debt issue ranked in either of the\ntwo highest rating categories of two nationally recognized independent\nrating agencies, (d) commercial paper of any bank or corporation created\nunder the laws of either the United States or any state of the United\nStates which commercial paper, at the time of the investment, has\nreceived the highest rating of two nationally recognized independent\nrating agencies, (e) bonds, debentures, or other evidences of\nindebtedness, issued or guaranteed at the time of the investment by the\nfederal national mortgage association, federal home loan mortgage\ncorporation, student loan marketing association, federal farm credit\nsystem, or any other United States government sponsored agency, provided\nthat at the time of the investment such agency receives, or its\nobligations receive, any of the three highest rating categories of two\nnationally recognized independent rating agencies, (f) any bonds or\nother obligations of any state or the United States of America or of any\npolitical subdivision thereof or any agency, instrumentality or local\ngovernmental unit of any such state or political subdivision which bonds\nor other obligations, at the time of the investment, have received any\nof the three highest ratings of two nationally recognized independent\nrating agencies, (g) any repurchase agreement with any bank or trust\ncompany organized under the laws of any state of the United States of\nAmerica or any national banking association or government bond dealer\nreporting to, trading with, and recognized as a primary dealer by the\nFederal Reserve Bank of New York, which agreement is secured by any one\nor more of the securities described in paragraph (a), (b) or (e) of this\nsubdivision which securities shall at all times have a market value of\nnot less than the full amount of the repurchase agreement and be\ndelivered to another bank or trust company organized under the laws of\nNew York State or any national banking association domiciled in New York\nState, as custodian, and (h) reverse repurchase agreements with any bank\nor trust company organized under the laws of any state of the United\nStates of America or any national banking association or government bond\ndealer reporting to, trading with, and recognized as a primary dealer by\nthe Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which agreement is secured by any\none or more of the securities described in paragraph (a), (b) or (e) of\nthis subdivision which securities shall at all times have a market value\nof not less than the full amount of the repurchase agreement and be\ndelivered to another bank or trust company organized under the laws of\nNew York State or any national banking association domiciled in New York\nState, as custodian.\n 13. to appoint such officers and employees as it may require for the\nperformance of its duties and to fix and determine their qualifications,\nduties, and compensation, and to retain or employ counsel, auditors and\nprivate financial consultants and other services on a contract basis or\notherwise for rendering professional, business or technical services and\nadvice; and, in taking such actions, the authority shall consider the\nfinancial impact on the county; and\n 14. to do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry out its\npurposes and exercise the powers expressly given and granted in this\ntitle; provided, however, such authority shall under no circumstances\nacquire, hold or transfer title to, lease, own beneficially or\notherwise, manage, operate or otherwise exercise control over any real\nproperty, any improvement to real property or any interest therein other\nthan a lease or sublease of office space deemed necessary or desirable\nby the authority.\n