§ 14-1805. Metropolitan transit authority; general powers.

For the purpose of accomplishing the object and purpose of the Transit Authority Law, the authority shall possess all the necessary powers of a public body corporate and governmental subdivision of the State of Nebraska, including, but not limited to, the following powers: (1) To maintain a principal office in the city of the metropolitan class in which created; (2) To adopt the official seal of the authority and to alter the same at its pleasure; (3) To employ a general manager, engineers, accountants, attorneys, financial experts, and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment, to fix the compensation of and to discharge the same, to negotiate with employees and enter into contracts of employment, to employ persons singularly or collectively, and, with the consent of such city, to use the services of agents, employees, and facilities of such city, including the city attorney as legal advisor to such authority, for which such authority shall reimburse such city a proper proportion of the compensation or cost thereof; (4) To adopt bylaws and adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for the regulation of its affairs and for the conduct of its business; (5) To acquire, lease, own, maintain, and operate for public service a public passenger transportation system, excluding taxicabs and railroad systems, within or without a city of the metropolitan class; (6) To sue and be sued in its own name, but execution shall not, in any case, issue against any of its property, except that the lessor, vendor, or trustee under any agreement, lease, conditional sales contract, conditional lease contract, or equipment trust certificate, as provided for in subdivision (15) of this section, may repossess the equipment described therein upon default; (7) To acquire, lease, and hold such real or personal property and any rights, interests, or easements therein as may be necessary or convenient for the purposes of the authority and to sell, assign, and convey the same; (8) To make and enter into any and all contracts and agreements with any individual, public or private corporation or agency of the State of Nebraska, public or private corporation or agency of any state of the United States adjacent to the city of the metropolitan class, and the United States of America as may be necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under the Transit Authority Law and to enter into agreements authorized under the Interlocal Cooperation Act or the Joint Public Agency Act; (9) To contract with an operating and management company for the purpose of operating, servicing, and maintaining any public passenger transportation systems of such authority; (10) To acquire and hold capital stock in any passenger transportation system, excluding taxicabs and railroad systems, solely for the purpose of lawfully acquiring the physical property of such corporation for public use; (11) To borrow money and issue and sell negotiable bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness, to provide for the rights of the holders thereof, and to pledge all or any part of the income of the authority received as herein provided to secure the payment thereof. The authority shall not have the power to pledge the credit or taxing power of the state or any political subdivision thereof, except such tax receipts as may be authorized herein, or to place any lien or encumbrance on any property owned by the state, county, or city used by the authority; (12) To receive and accept from the government of the United States of America or any agency thereof, from the State of Nebraska or any subdivision thereof, and from any person or corporation, donations or loans or grants for or in aid of the acquisition or operation of passenger transportation facilities, and to administer, hold, use, and apply the same for the purposes for which such grants or donations may have been made; (13) To exercise the right of eminent domain under and pursuant to the Constitution, statutes, and laws of the State of Nebraska to acquire private property, including any existing private passenger transportation system, but excluding any taxicabs, railroad, and air passenger transportation systems, which is necessary for the passenger transportation purposes of the authority and including the right to acquire rights and easements across, under, or over the right-of-way of any railroad. Exercise of the right of eminent domain shall be pursuant to sections 76-704 to 76-724; (14) Subject to the continuing rights of the public to the use thereof, to use any public road, street, or other public way in any city of the metropolitan class, county in which such city is located, adjacent county, or city or village located in such counties served by the authority for transportation of passengers; (15) To purchase and dispose of equipment, including motor buses, and to execute any agreement, lease, conditional sales contract, conditional lease contract, and equipment trust note or certificate to effect such purpose; (16) To pay for any equipment and rentals therefor in installments and to give evidence by equipment trust notes or certificates of any deferred installments, and title to such equipment need not vest in the authority until the equipment trust notes or certificates are paid; (17) To certify annually to the local lawmaking body of the city of the metropolitan class, county in which such city is located, adjacent county, or city or village located in such counties served by the authority such tax request for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of the following January as, in its discretion and judgment, the authority determines to be necessary, pursuant to section 14-1821. The local lawmaking body of such county, city, or village is authorized to levy and collect such taxes in the same manner as other taxes in such county, city, or village subject to section 77-3443; (18) To apply for and accept grants and loans from the government of the United States of America, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, to be used for any of the authorized purposes of the authority, and to enter into any agreement with the government of the United States of America, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, in relation to such grants or loans, subject to the provisions hereof; (19) To determine routes and to change the same subject to the provisions hereof; (20) To fix rates, fares, and charges for transportation. The revenue derived from rates, from the taxation herein provided, and from any grants or loans herein authorized shall at all times be sufficient in the aggregate to provide for the payment of: (a) All operating costs of the transit authority, (b) interest on and principal of all revenue bonds, revenue certificates, equipment trust notes or certificates, and other obligations of the authority, and to meet all other charges upon such revenue as may be provided by any trust agreement executed by such authority in connection with the issuance of revenue bonds or certificates under the Transit Authority Law, and (c) any other costs and charges, acquisition, installation, replacement, or reconstruction of equipment, structures, or rights-of-way not financed through the issuance of revenue bonds or certificates; (21) To provide free transportation for firefighters and police officers in uniform in the city of the metropolitan class, county in which such city is located, adjacent county, or city or village located in such counties served by the authority in which they are employed and for employees of such authority when in uniform or upon presentation of proper identification; (22) To enter into agreements with the Post Office Department of the United States of America or its successors for the transportation of mail and letter carriers and the payment therefor; (23) To exercise all powers usually granted to corporations, public and private, necessary or convenient to carry out the powers granted by the Transit Authority Law; and (24) To establish pension and retirement plans for officers and employees and to adopt any existing pension and retirement plans and any existing pension and retirement contracts for officers and employees of any passenger transportation system purchased or otherwise acquired pursuant to the Transit Authority Law. History: Laws 1957, c. 23, § 5, p. 160; Laws 1972, LB 1275, § 5; Laws 1973, LB 69, § 2; Laws 1979, LB 187, § 34; Laws 1986, LB 1012, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 471, § 1; Laws 1997, LB 269, § 17; Laws 1999, LB 87, § 60; Laws 2003, LB 720, § 3.