9-4-609 - Powers of housing authority.
9-4-609. Powers of housing authority.
(1) Each authority shall have perpetual succession and all the powers necessary orconvenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this part.
(2) Any authority may:
(a) sue and be sued;
(b) have a seal and alter it;
(c) make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to theexercise of its powers;
(d) make, amend, and repeal bylaws and rules;
(e) within its area of operation, prepare, carry out, and operate projects and provide forthe acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, extension, alteration orrepair of any project;
(f) undertake and carry out studies and analyses of housing needs within its area ofoperation and ways of meeting these needs, including data with respect to population and familygroups and its distribution according to income groups, the amount and quality of availablehousing, including accessible housing, and its distribution according to rentals and sales prices,employment, wages and other factors affecting the local housing needs and meeting these needs;
(g) make the results of studies and analyses available to the public and the building,housing, and supply industries and engage in research and disseminate information on housingprograms;
(h) utilize, contract with, act through, assist, and cooperate or deal with any person,agency, institution, or organization, public or private, for the provision of services, privileges,works, or facilities, or in connection with its projects;
(i) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this part or in any otherprovision of law, agree to any conditions attached to federal financial assistance relating to thedetermination of prevailing salaries or wages or payment of not less than prevailing salaries orwages or compliance with labor standards in the development or administration of projects,include in any contract awarded or entered into in connection with a project stipulations requiringthat the contractor and all subcontractors comply with requirements as to minimum salaries orwages and maximum hours of labor, and comply with any conditions attached to the financial aidof the project;
(j) lease, rent, sell, or lease with option to purchase any dwellings, lands, buildings,structures, or facilities embraced in any project;
(k) subject to the limitations contained in this part with respect to the rental or chargesfor dwellings in housing projects, establish and revise the rents or charges therefor;
(l) own, hold, and improve real or personal property;
(m) purchase, lease, obtain options upon, acquire by gift, grant, bequest, devise, orotherwise any real or personal property or any interest in it;
(n) sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or dispose of any real or personalproperty or any interest in it;
(o) make loans for the provision of housing for occupancy by persons of medium andlow income;
(p) make loans or grants for the development and construction of accessible housing;
(q) insure or provide for the insurance, in stock or mutual companies, of any real orpersonal property or operations of the authority against any risks or hazards;
(r) procure or agree to the procurement of government insurance or guarantees of thepayment of any bonds, in whole or in part, issued by the authority, including the power to paypremiums on any insurance;
(s) invest any funds held in reserves, sinking funds, or any funds not required forimmediate disbursement in property or securities in which savings banks may legally investfunds subject to their control;
(t) redeem its bonds at the redemption price established or purchase its bonds at less thanredemption price, with all bonds so redeemed or purchased to be canceled;
(u) within its area of operation, determine where blighted areas exist or where there isunsafe, insanitary, or overcrowded housing;
(v) make studies and recommendations relating to the problem of clearing, replanning,and reconstructing blighted areas, and the problem of eliminating unsafe, insanitary, orovercrowded housing and providing dwelling accommodations and maintaining a wholesomeliving environment for persons of medium and low income, and cooperate with any public bodyor the private sector in action taken in connection with those problems;
(w) acting through one or more commissioners or other persons designated by theauthority, conduct examinations and investigations and hear testimony and take proof under oathat public or private hearings on any matter material for its information;
(x) administer oaths, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses or theproduction of books and papers, and issue commissions for the examination of witnesses outsidethe state who are unable to appear before the authority or are excused from attendance;
(y) make available to appropriate agencies, including those charged with the duty ofabating or requiring the correction of nuisances or like conditions or of demolishing unsafe orinsanitary structures within its area of operation, its findings and recommendations with regard toany building or property where conditions exist that are dangerous to the public health, morals,safety, or welfare; and
(z) exercise all or any part or combination of the powers granted under this part.
(3) No provision of law with respect to the acquisition, operation, or disposition ofproperty by other public bodies is applicable to an authority unless the Legislature specificallystates that it is.
Amended by Chapter 95, 2003 General Session