(a) Each public building authority created pursuant to this chapter shall be a public nonprofit corporation and a public instrumentality of the municipality with respect to which the authority is organized. The authority has the following powers, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary for the performance of those hereinafter stated, to:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 12-10-109
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
Lessee: means any municipal corporation, the state of Tennessee, the United States, or any agency, authority, branch, bureau, commission, corporation, department or instrumentality thereof now or hereafter existing. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
Loan agreement: means an agreement providing for an authority to loan the proceeds derived from the issuance of bonds pursuant to this chapter to one (1) or more contracting parties to be used to pay the cost of one (1) or more projects and providing for the repayment of such loan by the other contracting party or parties, and which may provide for such loans to be secured by or evidenced by one (1) or more notes, debentures, bonds or other secured or unsecured debt obligations of the contracting party or parties, delivered to the authority or to the trustee under the indenture pursuant to which the bonds were issued. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
Municipal corporation: means any county, metropolitan government, incorporated city or town, utility district, school district, power district, sanitary district or other municipal, quasi-municipal or governmental body or political subdivision in this state, and any agency, authority, branch, bureau, commission, corporation, department or instrumentality thereof now or hereafter authorized by law to be created. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
Municipality: means any county, incorporated city or town or utility district in this state with respect to which an authority may be organized. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
Project: includes an undertaking whereby a municipal corporation contracts with an authority respecting construction of improvements upon and/or for the operation and maintenance of property owned by or leased by other than the authority to the municipal corporation. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
public building authority: means any public corporation organized pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
revenue bonds: means bonds, notes, interim certificates or other obligations of an authority issued pursuant to this chapter, or pursuant to any other law, as supplemented by, or in conjunction with, this chapter. See Tennessee Code 12-10-103
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Have succession by its corporate name for the period specified in the certificate of incorporation unless sooner dissolved as hereinafter provided;(2) Sue and be sued and prosecute and defend, at law or in equity, in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties;(3) Have and use a corporate seal and alter the same at pleasure;(4) Acquire, whether by purchase, construction, exchange, gift, lease or otherwise, and improve, repair, extend, equip, furnish, operate and maintain one (1) or more projects, which projects may be within or without the municipality or municipalities with respect to which the authority shall have been created, including all real and personal properties which the board of directors of the authority may deem necessary in connection therewith, and regardless of whether or not any such projects shall then be in existence, and including the power to demolish such existing structures as may be on sites acquired when such structures are not needed for the project;(5) Pave and improve streets within the area of a project and construct, repair and install sidewalks, sewers, gutters, water mains and other similar improvements and facilities in the area, and provide offstreet parking facilities in connection with any project;(6) Operate, maintain, manage, and enter into contracts for the operation, maintenance and management of any project undertaken, and make rules and regulations with regard to such operation, maintenance and management;(7) Employ, contract with, fix the compensation of, and discharge engineering, architectural, legal and financial experts and such other employees, both professional and other, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and provide for the proper operation and maintenance of any project;(8)Lease all or any part or parts of any project to any lessee and execute written leases therefor, for any period of time not to exceed forty (40) years, and charge and collect rent therefor and terminate any such lease upon the failure of the lessee to comply with any of the obligations thereof; and include in or exclude from any such lease, provisions that the lessee shall have the option to renew the term of the lease for such period or periods and at such rent as shall be determined by the board of directors, that such lessee may purchase the project being leased or that upon payment of the indebtedness of the authority incurred with respect to such project, it may lease or convey any or all of its projects to the lessee or lessees thereof with or without consideration;(9) Lease such space in a project as from time to time may not be needed by any lessee to any other person, corporation, partnership or association for such purposes as the board of directors may determine will best serve the comfort and convenience of the occupants of such project and upon such terms and in such manner as the board may determine;(10) Sell, exchange, donate and convey any or all of its properties whenever the board of directors shall find any such action to be in furtherance of the purposes for which the authority was organized, and enter into sales contracts with others in connection with the sale of any such properties;(11) Procure and enter into contracts for any type of insurance or indemnity against loss or damage to property from any cause, including loss of use and occupancy, against death or injury of any person, against employer’s liability, against any act of any member, officer or employee of the authority in the performance of the duties of such person’s office or employment or any other insurable risk, as the board of directors in its discretion may deem necessary;(12) Accept donations, contributions, capital grants or gifts from any individuals, associations, municipal or private corporations, the state of Tennessee and the United States, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, for or in aid of any of the purposes of this chapter and enter into agreements in connection therewith;(13) Borrow money from time to time and in evidence of the obligation thereby incurred to issue and sell its revenue bonds in such amount or amounts as the board of directors may determine to provide funds for the purpose of financing, acquiring, erecting, extending, improving, equipping or repairing any project or for any combination of such purposes, and demolishing structures on the project site and acquiring a site or sites necessary and convenient for such project, including, but without in any way limiting the generality of the foregoing, architectural, engineering, legal, financing and bond insurance expenses, and including an amount sufficient to meet the interest charges on such revenue bonds during construction of any project and for two (2) years after the estimated date of completion; and refund and refinance, from time to time, revenue bonds so issued and sold, as often as may be deemed to be advantageous by the board of directors; and pending the issuance of its revenue bonds for the purposes in this chapter authorized, issue its interim certificates or notes or other temporary obligations;(14) Enter into any agreement or contract with any lessee, who, pursuant to the terms of this chapter, is renting or is about to rent from the authority all or part of any building or buildings or facilities, whereby under such agreement or contract the lessee obligates itself to pay all or part of the cost of maintaining and operating the premises so leased. Such agreement may be included as a provision of any lease entered into pursuant to the terms of this chapter or may be made the subject of a separate agreement or contract between the authority and such lessee;(15) As security for the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds so issued and any agreements made in connection therewith, mortgage and pledge any or all of its projects or any part or parts thereof, whether then owned or thereafter acquired, and pledge the revenues and receipts therefrom or from any thereof, and/or assign and pledge all or any part of its interest in and rights under the leases, sales contracts or loan agreements relating thereto or any thereof;(16) Exercise all powers expressly given in its certificate of incorporation and establish bylaws and make all rules and regulations not inconsistent with the certificate of incorporation or this chapter deemed expedient for the management of the affairs of the authority;(17) Enter into loan agreements with others with respect to one (1) or more projects for such payments and upon such terms as the board of directors of the authority may deem advisable in accordance with this chapter, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) The board of directors of the authority may, by appropriate action, request the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller’s designee to review loan agreements entered into between the authority and a municipal corporation; and(B) If the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller’s designee determines that it is advisable to review the loan agreements pursuant to a request by the authority, then prior to entering into a loan agreement with the authority, the municipal corporation must obtain the approval of the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller’s designee;(18) Sell, lease, transfer or convey any air rights and appropriate easements, including easements for support, ingress and egress, in, above, under or adjacent to property acquired for the construction, maintenance and operation of a project. Sale, lease, transfer or conveyance may be accomplished either by public bid or by private sale in such manner, upon such terms and for such consideration as may be determined by the board of directors to be most advantageous to the authority;(19) Enter into contracts with a municipal corporation respecting construction of improvements upon and/or operation and maintenance of any property owned by or leased by other than the authority to the municipal corporation. Such contracts shall specify the extent and nature of the services to be rendered by the authority; and(20) Have control of its parking facilities with the right and duty to establish and charge fees, rentals, rates and other charges, and collect revenues therefrom, not inconsistent with the rights of the holders of its bonds.(b) Except as otherwise approved by the comptroller of the treasury, any authority created pursuant to this chapter shall have the power and shall cause to be made an annual audit of the accounts and records of the authority. The audit shall include all funds of the authority whether held by the authority or pursuant to trust indentures. The comptroller of the treasury, through the department of audit, shall be responsible for ensuring that the audits are prepared in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards and determining if the audits meet minimum audit standards which shall be prescribed by the comptroller of the treasury. No audit may be accepted as meeting the requirements of this subsection (b) until such audit has been approved by the comptroller of the treasury. The audits may be prepared by certified public accountants, public accountants or by the department of audit. In the event the authority shall fail or refuse to have the audit prepared, then the comptroller of the treasury may appoint a certified public accountant or public accountant or direct the department of audit to prepare the audit, the cost of such audit to be paid by the authority. All such audits shall be completed as soon as practicable after the end of the authority’s fiscal year. One (1) copy of the audit shall be furnished to each member of the board of directors, the chief executive officer of the municipality with respect to which the authority has organized, and the comptroller of the treasury. Copies of each audit shall also be made available to the press.(c) Any municipal corporation that has submitted a loan agreement to be entered into between the municipal corporation and the authority to the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller’s designee for approval pursuant to this section shall submit an annual budget in a form consistent with accepted governmental standards to the comptroller of the treasury or the comptroller’s designee immediately upon its adoption, and each year thereafter, so long as the loan agreement is outstanding.(d) An authority created by a utility district or jointly created by two (2) or more utility districts under § 12-10-120 shall only have the powers set forth in this section and in this chapter for projects that consist of utility infrastructure, improvements, facilities and buildings that are an integral part of a public utility’s operations and that are used by a public utility in providing utility services to its customers.(e) The powers granted by this chapter may be exercised without regard to requirements, restrictions or procedural provisions contained in § 55-21-105(a) or any other law or charter, except as expressly provided in this chapter.
