Section 36-63-8. Powers of authority generally

   (a) Each authority shall have all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power:

   (1) To bring and defend actions;

   (2) To adopt and amend a corporate seal;

   (3) To acquire, construct, improve, or modify, to place into operation, and to operate or cause to be placed into operation and operated, either as owner of all or of any part in common with others, a project or projects within the county in which the authority is activated and, subject to execution of agreements with the appropriate political subdivisions affected, within other counties, and to pay all or part of the cost of any such project or projects from the proceeds of revenue bonds of the authority or from any contribution or loans by persons, firms, or corporations or any other contribution, all of which the authority is authorized to receive, accept, and use;

   (4) To acquire, in its own name, by purchase on such terms and conditions and in such manner as it may deem proper or by gift, grant, lease, or otherwise, real property or rights and easements therein and franchises and personal property necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes, which purposes shall include, but shall not be limited to, the constructing or acquiring of a project, the improving, extending, adding to, reconstructing, renovating, or remodeling of any project or part thereof already constructed or acquired, or demolition to make room for such project or any part thereof, and to insure the same against any and all risks as such insurance may, from time to time, be available; the authority may also use such property and rent or lease the same to or from others or make contracts with respect to the use thereof or sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or otherwise dispose of or grant options for any such property in any manner which the authority deems to the best advantage of itself and its purposes; provided that the powers to acquire, use, and dispose of property as set forth in this paragraph shall include the power to acquire, use, and dispose of any interest in such property, whether divided or undivided, which acquisition may result in the ownership of such property or any part thereof in common with any other party or parties, public or private; and title to any such property of the authority, however, shall be held by the authority exclusively for the benefit of the public;

   (5) To make contracts and leases and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient, including contracts for construction of projects and leases of projects or contracts with respect to the use of projects which it causes to be acquired or constructed; provided that all private persons, firms, and corporations, this state, and all political subdivisions, departments, instrumentalities, or agencies of the state or of local government are authorized to enter into contracts, leases, or agreements with the authority, upon such terms and for such purposes as they deem advisable; and without limiting the generality of the above, authority is specifically granted to municipal corporations and counties and to the authority to enter into contracts, lease agreements, or other undertakings relative to the furnishing of project activities and facilities or either of them by the authority to such municipal corporations and counties and by such municipal corporations and counties to the authority for a term not exceeding 50 years;

   (6) To exercise any one or more of the powers, rights, and privileges conferred by this Code section either alone or jointly or in common with one or more other public or private parties or public and private parties; in any such exercise of such powers, rights, and privileges jointly or in common with others with respect to the construction, operation, and maintenance of project facilities, the authority may own an undivided interest in such facilities with any other party with which it may jointly or in common exercise the rights and privileges conferred by this chapter; the authority may enter into an agreement or agreements with respect to any such project facility with the other party or parties participating therein; any such agreement may contain such terms, conditions, and provisions, consistent with this chapter, as the parties thereto shall deem to be in their best interests; any such agreement may include, but need not be limited to, provisions for the construction, operation, and maintenance of such project facility by any one or more party of the parties to such agreement, which party or parties shall be designated in or pursuant to such agreement as agent or agents on behalf of itself and one or more of the other parties thereto, or by such other means as may be determined by the parties thereto, and may include provisions for a method or methods of determining and allocating, among or between the parties, costs of construction, operation, maintenance, renewals, replacements, improvements, and disposals with respect to such facility; in carrying out its functions and activities as such agent with respect to construction, operation, and maintenance of such a facility, such agent shall be governed by the laws and regulations applicable to such agent as a separate legal entity and not by any laws or regulations which may be applicable to any of the other participating parties; provided, however, the agent shall act for the benefit of the public; notwithstanding anything contained in any other law to the contrary, pursuant to the terms of any such agreement, the authority may delegate its powers and duties with respect to the construction, operation, and maintenance of such facility to the party acting as agent; and all actions taken by such agent in accordance with the provisions of such agreement may be binding upon the authority without further action or approval of the authority;

   (7) To extend credit or make loans to any person, firm, corporation, or other industrial entity for the planning, design, construction, acquisition, or carrying out of any project, which credit or loans shall be secured by loan agreements, mortgages, security agreements, contracts, and all other instruments or fees or charges, upon such terms and conditions as the authority shall determine reasonable in connection with such loans, including provision for the establishment and maintenance of reserves and insurance funds, and in the exercise of powers granted by this Code section in connection with a project for such person, firm, corporation, or other industrial entity, to require the inclusion in any contract, loan agreement, security agreement, or other instrument of such provisions for guaranty, insurance, construction, use, operation, maintenance, and financing of a project as the authority may deem necessary or desirable;

   (8) To acquire, accept, or retain equitable interests, security interests, or other interest in any property, real or personal, by mortgage, assignment, security agreement, pledge, conveyance, contract, lien, loan agreement, or other consensual transfer, in order to secure the repayment of any moneys loaned or credit extended by the authority;

   (9) To accept, receive, and administer gifts, grants, appropriations, and donations of money, materials, and property of any kind, including loans and grants from the United States of America or this state, or a unit of local government, or any agency, department, authority, or instrumentality of either upon such terms and conditions as the United States of America, this state, a unit of local government, or such agency, department, authority, or instrumentality shall impose, to administer trusts, and to sell, lease, transfer, convey, appropriate, and pledge any and all of its property and assets;

   (10) To invest any accumulation of its funds in any fund or reserve in any manner that public funds of this state or its political subdivisions may be invested;

   (11) To do any and all things necessary or proper for the accomplishment of the objectives of this chapter and to exercise any power usually possessed by private corporations performing similar functions which is not in conflict with the Constitution and laws of this state, including the power to employ professional and administrative staff and personnel and to retain legal, engineering, fiscal, accounting, and other professional services; the power to purchase all kinds of insurance, including, without limitation, insurance against tort liability and against risks of damage to property; the power to borrow money for any of the corporate purposes of the authority; the power to indemnify and hold harmless any parties contracting with the authority or its agents from damage to persons or property; and the power to act as self-insurer with respect to any loss or liability; provided, however, that obligations of the authority other than revenue bonds, for which provision is made in this chapter, shall be payable from the general funds of the authority and shall not be a charge against any special fund allocated to the payment of revenue bonds;

   (12) To mortgage, convey, pledge, or assign any properties, revenues, income, tolls, charges, or fees owned or received by the authority;

   (13) To borrow money and issue its revenue bonds and bond anticipation notes from time to time and to use the proceeds thereof for the purpose of paying all or part of the cost of any project, including the cost of extending, adding to, or improving such project, or for the purpose of refunding any such bonds of the authority theretofore issued; and to otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter and to pay all other costs of the authority incident to, or necessary and appropriate to, such purposes, including the providing of funds to be paid into any fund or funds to secure such bonds and notes, provided that all such bonds and notes shall be issued in accordance with the procedures and subject to the limitations set forth in Code Section 36-63-9; and

   (14) As security for repayment of authority obligations, to pledge, mortgage, convey, assign, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber any property, real or personal, of such authority and to execute any trust agreement, indenture, or security agreement containing any provisions not in conflict with law, which trust agreement, indenture, or security agreement may provide for foreclosure or forced sale of any property of the authority upon default on such obligations either in payment of principal or interest or in the performance of any term or condition contained in such agreement or indenture; this state, on behalf of itself and each county, municipal corporation, political subdivision, or taxing district therein waives any right which it or such county, municipal corporation, political subdivision, or taxing district may have to prevent the forced sale or foreclosure of any property of the authority so mortgaged or encumbered, and any such mortgage or encumbrance may be foreclosed in accordance with law and the terms thereof.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, an authority is prohibited from bidding or paying compensation for solid wastes being privately processed or reused.

Code 1933, § 69-1507a, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1898, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1006, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 36.