§ 3-504. Airport authority; powers.

Any authority established under the Cities Airport Authorities Act shall have power: (1) To sue and be sued; (2) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure; (3) To acquire, hold, and dispose of personal property for its corporate purposes; (4) To acquire in the name of the city, by purchase or condemnation, real property or rights or easements therein necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes and, except (a) as may otherwise be provided in the act and (b) that if property is to be acquired outside the zoning jurisdiction of the city when such city is a city of the metropolitan class, approval must be obtained from the county board of the county where the property is located before the right of eminent domain may be exercised, to use the same so long as its corporate existence continues. Such power shall not be exercised by authorities of cities of the primary, first, and second classes and of villages created after September 2, 1973, without further approval until such time as at least three members of the authority have been elected. If the exercise of such power is necessary while three or more appointed members remain on the authority of cities of the primary, first, and second classes and of villages, the appointing body shall approve all proceedings under this subdivision; (5) To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs and, subject to agreements with bondholders, to make rules and regulations for the use of projects and the establishment and collection of rentals, fees, and all other charges for services or commodities sold, furnished, or supplied by such authority. Any person violating such rules shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor; (6) With the consent of the city, to use the services of agents, employees, and facilities of the city, for which the authority may reimburse the city a proper proportion of the compensation or cost thereof, and also to use the services of the city attorney as legal advisor to the authority; (7) To appoint officers, agents, and employees and fix their compensation; (8) To make contracts, leases, and all other instruments necessary or convenient to the corporate purposes of the authority; (9) To design, construct, maintain, operate, improve, and reconstruct, so long as its corporate existence continues, such projects as are necessary and convenient to the maintenance and development of aviation services to and for the city in which such authority is established, including landing fields, heliports, hangars, shops, passenger and freight terminals, control towers, and all facilities necessary or convenient in connection with any such project, to contract for the construction, operation, or maintenance of any parts thereof or for services to be performed thereon, and to rent parts thereof and grant concessions thereon, all on such terms and conditions as the authority may determine. This subdivision shall not be construed to affect the obligation of a lessee to pay taxes if taxes are due under sections 77-202, 77-202.11, and 77-202.12; (10) To include in such project, subject to zoning restrictions, space and facilities for any or all of the following: Public recreation; business, trade, or other exhibitions; sporting or athletic events; public meetings; conventions; and all other kinds of assemblages and, in order to obtain additional revenue, space and facilities for business and commercial purposes. Whenever the authority deems it to be in the public interest, the authority may lease any such project or any part or parts thereof or contract for the management and operation thereof or any part or parts thereof. Any such lease or contract may be for such period of years as the authority shall determine. This subdivision shall not be construed to affect the obligation of a lessee to pay taxes if taxes are due under sections 77-202, 77-202.11, and 77-202.12; (11) To charge fees, rentals, and other charges for the use of projects under the jurisdiction of such authority subject to and in accordance with such agreement with bondholders as may be made as hereinafter provided. Subject to contracts with bondholders, all fees, rentals, charges, and other revenue derived from any project shall be applied to the payment of operating, administration, and other necessary expenses of the authority properly chargeable to such project and to the payment of the interest on and principal of bonds or for making sinking-fund payments therefor. Subject to contracts with bondholders, the authority may treat one or more projects as a single enterprise with respect to revenue, expenses, the issuance of bonds, maintenance, operation, or other purposes; (12) To certify annually to the governing body of the city the amount of tax to be levied for airport purposes which the authority requires under its adopted budget statement to be received from taxation, not to exceed three and five-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable valuation of all the taxable property in such city subject to section 77-3443. The governing body may levy and collect the taxes so certified at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes are levied and collected, and the proceeds of such taxes when due and as collected shall be set aside and deposited in the special account or accounts in which other revenue of the authority is deposited. An authority in a city of the first or second class or a village shall have power to certify annually to the governing body of such a city or village an additional amount of tax to be levied for airport purposes, not to exceed three and five-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable value, to be levied, collected, set aside, and deposited as specified in this subdivision, and if negotiable bonds of the authority are thereafter issued, this power shall continue until such bonds are paid in full. When such additional amount of tax is first certified, the governing body may then require, but not thereafter, approval of the same by a majority vote of the governing body or by a majority vote of the electors voting on the same at a general or special election. The additional levy shall be subject to section 77-3443. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to cities of the metropolitan class; (13) To construct and maintain under, along, over, or across a project, telephone, telegraph, or electric wires and cables, fuel lines, gas mains, water mains, and other mechanical equipment not inconsistent with the appropriate use of such project, to contract for such construction and to lease the right to construct and use the same, or to use the same on such terms for such periods of time and for such consideration as the authority shall determine; (14) To accept grants, loans, or contributions from the United States, the State of Nebraska, any agency or instrumentality of either of them, or the city in which such authority is established and to expend the proceeds thereof for any corporate purposes; (15) To incur debt and issue negotiable bonds and to provide for the rights of the holders thereof; (16) To enter on any lands, waters, and premises for the purposes of making surveys, soundings, and examinations; and (17) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers expressly conferred on such authorities by the act. History: Laws 1957, c. 9, § 4, p. 115; Laws 1959, c. 12, § 2, p. 122; Laws 1969, c. 26, § 1, p. 225; Laws 1969, c. 145, § 14, p. 677; Laws 1973, LB 22, § 2; Laws 1974, LB 796, § 1; Laws 1977, LB 40, § 32; Laws 1979, LB 187, § 12; Laws 1981, LB 354, § 3; Laws 1992, LB 719A, § 11; Laws 1996, LB 1114, § 18; Laws 1997, LB 269, § 4; Laws 1998, LB 306, § 1; Laws 2001, LB 173, § 5.