2007 Minnesota Statutes

136A.29 POWERS; DUTIES.
    Subdivision 1. Purpose. The purpose of the authority shall be to assist institutions of higher
education in the construction, financing, and refinancing of projects. The exercise by the authority
of the powers conferred by sections 136A.25 to 136A.42, shall be deemed and held to be the
performance of an essential public function. For the purpose of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42, the
authority shall have the powers and duties set forth in subdivisions 2 to 23.
    Subd. 2. Election of officers. The authority shall annually elect one of its members as chair,
one as vice-chair, and one as secretary, as well as elect additional officers deemed necessary
by the authority.
    Subd. 3. Employees. The authority is authorized and empowered to appoint and employ
employees as it may deem necessary to carry out its duties, determine the title of the employees so
employed, and fix the salary of said employees. Employees of the authority shall participate in
retirement and other benefits in the same manner that employees in the unclassified service of the
Minnesota Office of Higher Education participate.
    Subd. 4. Mutual agreement; staff, equipment, office space. By mutual agreement between
the authority and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, authority staff employees may also
be members of the office staff. By mutual agreement, authority employees may be provided
office space in the office of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and said employees may
make use of equipment, supplies, and office space, provided that the authority fully reimburses
the Minnesota Office of Higher Education for salaries and for space, equipment, supplies, and
materials used. In the absence of such mutual agreement between the authority and the Minnesota
Office of Higher Education, the authority may maintain an office at such place or places as it
may designate.
    Subd. 5. Rules. The authority is authorized and empowered to adopt rules for the conduct
of its business.
    Subd. 6. Projects; generally. The authority is authorized and empowered to determine the
location and character of any project to be financed under the provisions of sections 136A.25
to 136A.42, and to construct, reconstruct, remodel, maintain, manage, enlarge, alter, add to,
repair, operate, lease, as lessee or lessor, and regulate the same, to enter into contracts for any or
all of such purposes, to enter into contracts for the management and operation of a project, and
to designate a participating institution of higher education as its agent to determine the location
and character of a project undertaken by such participating institution of higher education under
the provisions of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42 and as the agent of the authority, to construct,
reconstruct, remodel, maintain, manage, enlarge, alter, add to, repair, operate, lease, as lessee or
lessor, and regulate the same, and as the agent of the authority, to enter into contracts for any or all
of such purposes, including contracts for the management and operation of such project. Contracts
of the authority or of a participating institution of higher education to acquire or to construct,
reconstruct, remodel, maintain, enlarge, alter, add to, or repair projects shall not be subject to the
provisions of chapter 16C or section 574.26, or any other public contract or competitive bid law.
    Subd. 7. Property. The authority is authorized and empowered to acquire by gift or purchase
and hold and mortgage real estate and interests therein and personal property to be used as
a project or a part thereof.
    Subd. 8. Projects; other powers. The authority is authorized and empowered to purchase,
construct, reconstruct, enlarge, improve, furnish and equip and lease, sell, exchange, and
otherwise dispose of projects or parts thereof.
    Subd. 9. Revenue bonds; limit. The authority is authorized and empowered to issue revenue
bonds whose aggregate principal amount at any time shall not exceed $950,000,000 and to issue
notes, bond anticipation notes, and revenue refunding bonds of the authority under the provisions
of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42, to provide funds for acquiring, constructing, reconstructing,
enlarging, remodeling, renovating, improving, furnishing, or equipping one or more projects
or parts thereof.
    Subd. 10. Revenue bonds; issuance, purpose, conditions. The authority is authorized and
empowered to issue revenue bonds to acquire projects from or to make loans to participating
institutions of higher education and thereby refinance outstanding indebtedness incurred by
participating institutions of higher education to provide funds for the acquisition, construction
or improvement of a facility before or after the enactment of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42, but
otherwise eligible to be and being a project thereunder, whenever the authority finds that such
refinancing will enhance or preserve such participating institutions and such facilities or utilization
thereof for educational purposes or extend or adjust maturities to correspond to the resources
available for their payment, or reduce the tuition, charges or fees imposed on students for the use
of the facilities of such participating institutions of higher education or costs met by federal or
state public funds, or enhance or preserve educational programs and research or the acquisition
or improvement of other facilities eligible to be a project or part thereof by the participating
institution of higher education. The amount of revenue bonds to be issued to refinance outstanding
indebtedness of a participating institution of higher education shall not exceed the lesser of (a)
the fair value of the project to be acquired by the authority from the institution or mortgaged to
the authority by the institution or (b) the amount of the outstanding indebtedness including any
premium thereon and any interest accrued or to accrue to the date of redemption and any legal,
fiscal and related costs in connection with such refinancing and reasonable reserves, as determined
by the authority. The provisions of this subdivision do not prohibit the authority from issuing
revenue bonds within and charged against the limitations provided in subdivision 9 to provide
funds for improvements, alteration, renovation, or extension of the project refinanced.
    Subd. 11. Contracts. The authority is authorized and empowered to enter into contracts and
execute all instruments necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of sections 136A.25 to
136A.42.
    Subd. 12. Rents, fees, and charges. The authority is authorized and empowered generally,
to fix and revise from time to time and charge and collect rates, rents, fees and charges for the
use of and for the services furnished or to be furnished by a project or any portion thereof and
to contract with any person, partnership, association or corporation or other body public or
private in respect thereof.
    Subd. 13. Pledge. The authority is authorized and empowered to pledge, assign, hypothecate,
or otherwise encumber as security for the bonds, the rentals, revenues, and other income, charges,
and moneys realized from the use, lease, sale, or other disposition of one or more projects or
parts thereof as may be designated in the bond proceedings and enter into trust agreements or
indentures of mortgage for the benefit of bondholders.
    Subd. 14. Rules for use of projects. The authority is authorized and empowered to establish
rules for the use of a project or any portion thereof and to designate a participating institution
of higher education as its agent to establish rules for the use of a project undertaken for such
participating institution of higher education.
    Subd. 15. Consultants. The authority is authorized and empowered to employ consulting
engineers, architects, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts, superintendents,
managers, and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment, and to fix
their compensation.
    Subd. 16. Acceptance of loans, grants, and aid. The authority is authorized and empowered
to receive and accept from any public agency loans or grants for or in aid of the acquisition,
construction, or refinancing of a project or any portion thereof, and to receive and accept loans,
grants, aid or contributions from any source of either money, property, labor or other things of
value to be held, used and applied only for the purposes for which such loans, grants, aid and
contributions are made.
    Subd. 17. Agreements with units of government. The authority is authorized and
empowered to enter into appropriate arrangements with any federal or state department or
agency, county, township, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision, taxing district,
or public body or agency for the planning and installation of streets, roads, alleys, water supply
and distribution facilities, storm and sanitary sewage collection and disposal facilities, and other
necessary appurtenances to a project.
    Subd. 18. Insurance. The authority is authorized and empowered to purchase fire and
extended coverage and liability insurance for a project, and any other insurance the authority may
agree to provide under the bond proceedings. The authority is not a municipality subject to
the provisions of sections 466.01 to 466.15.
    Subd. 19. Surety. Before the issuance of any revenue bonds under the provisions of sections
136A.25 to 136A.42, any member or officer of the authority authorized by resolution of the
authority to handle funds or sign checks of the authority shall be covered under a surety or fidelity
bond in an amount to be determined by the authority. Each such bond shall be conditioned upon
the faithful performance of the duties of the office of the member or officer, shall be executed by a
surety company authorized to transact business in the state of Minnesota as surety. The cost of
each such bond shall be paid by the authority.
    Subd. 20. Sale, lease, and disposal of property. The authority is authorized and empowered
to sell, lease, release or otherwise dispose of real and personal property or interests therein, or a
combination thereof, acquired by the authority under authority of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42
and no longer needed for the purposes of such chapter or of the authority, and grant such easements
and other rights in, over, under, or across a project as will not interfere with its use of such
property. Such sale, lease, release, disposition, or grant may be made without competitive bidding
and in such manner for such consideration as the authority in its judgment deems appropriate.
    Subd. 21. Loans. The authority is authorized and empowered to make loans to any
participating institution of higher education for the cost of a project in accordance with an
agreement between the authority and the participating institution of higher education; provided
that no such loan shall exceed the total cost of the project as determined by the participating
institution of higher education and approved by the authority.
    Subd. 22. Costs, expenses, and other charges. The authority is authorized and empowered
to charge to and apportion among participating institutions of higher education its administrative
costs and expenses incurred in the exercise of the powers and duties conferred by sections
136A.25 to 136A.42.
    Subd. 23. Other powers. The authority is authorized and empowered to do all things
necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of sections 136A.25 to 136A.42.
History: 1971 c 868 s 5; 1973 c 758 s 3; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1978 c 793 s 63; 1983 c 258 s
53,54; 1984 c 544 s 89; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444; 1989 c 293 s 57; 1992 c 513 art 1 s 16;
1992 c 545 art 1 s 1; 1995 c 212 art 3 s 59; 1997 c 183 art 3 s 18; 1998 c 386 art 2 s 44; 2000 c
260 s 20; 2000 c 386 s 1; 2003 c 133 art 2 s 16; 2005 c 107 art 2 s 60; 2007 c 144 art 2 s 31