May 11, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Casperson, Farhat, Elsenheimer, Brown, Adamini, Moore, Hansen, Hummel, Taub, LaJoy, Marleau, Emmons, Hildenbrand, Pearce and Stakoe and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to create the state facility authority; to create
certain state authorities; to create funds and accounts; to
prescribe the powers and duties of the authority; to operate
certain facilities; and to prescribe the powers and duties of
certain state and local officials.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "state
facility authority act".
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Authority" means the state facility authority created
under section 3.
(b) "Board" means the board of directors of the authority.
(c) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited or
general partnership, joint venture, or limited liability company or
a governmental entity, including state authorities.
(d) "Qualified facility" means a facility that prior to
transfer to the authority was owned and operated by an institution
of higher education.
Sec. 3. (1) The state facility authority is created as a
public body corporate and politic within the department of
treasury.
(2) The authority shall exercise its duties independently of
the state treasurer. The budgeting, procurement, and related
administrative functions of the authority shall be performed under
the direction and supervision of the state treasurer.
Sec. 4. (1) The authority shall exercise its duties through
its board of directors.
(2) The board shall be made up of the following members:
(a) The president and CEO of the Michigan economic development
corporation or his or her designee.
(b) The state treasurer or his or her designee.
(c) The president of northern Michigan university or his or
her designee.
(d) Eight members with knowledge, skill, or experience in the
academic, business, or financial fields appointed by the governor
with the advice and consent of the senate. Not fewer than 4 of the
members shall be residents of the Upper Peninsula of this state. Of
the 8 members, 2 shall serve an initial term of 1 year, 2 shall
serve an initial term of 2 years, 2 shall serve an initial term of
3 years, and 2 shall serve an initial term of 4 years. Upon
completion of each term, a member shall be appointed for a term of
4 years. The appointed members shall serve until a successor is
appointed. A vacancy in a fixed-term membership shall be filled for
the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner as the
original appointment.
(3) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but
may receive reasonable reimbursement for necessary travel and
expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties.
(4) The governor shall designate 1 member of the board to
serve as its chairperson who shall serve at the pleasure of the
governor.
(5) A majority of the serving members of the board shall
constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of business.
Actions of the board shall be approved by a majority vote of the
members present at a meeting. The business of the board shall be
conducted in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267,
MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
(6) The authority may employ or contract for legal, financial,
and technical experts, and officers, agents, and employees,
permanent and temporary, as the authority requires, and shall
determine their qualifications, duties, and compensation. The board
may delegate to 1 or more agents or employees those powers or
duties with any limitations that the board considers proper.
(7) The members of the board and officers and employees of the
authority are subject to 1968 PA 317, MCL 15.321 to 15.330, or 1968
PA 318, MCL 15.301 to 15.310.
(8) A member of the board or officer, employee, or agent of
the authority shall discharge the duties of his or her position in
a nonpartisan manner, with good faith, and with that degree of
diligence, care, and skill that an ordinarily prudent person would
exercise under similar circumstances in a like position. In
discharging the duties of his or her position, a member of the
board or an officer, employee, or agent of the authority, when
acting in good faith, may rely upon the opinion of counsel for the
authority, upon the report of an independent appraiser selected
with reasonable care by the board, or upon financial statements of
the authority represented to the member of the board or officer,
employee, or agent of the authority to be correct by the president
or the officer of the authority having charge of its books or
account, or stated in a written report by a certified public
accountant or firm of certified public accountants to fairly
reflect the financial condition of the authority.
Sec. 5. (1) The authority may do all things necessary or
convenient to carry out the purposes, objectives, and provisions of
this act and the purposes, objectives, and powers delegated to the
authority or the board by other laws or executive orders,
including, without limitation, all of the following:
(a) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and alter
the bylaws at its pleasure.
(b) Sue and be sued in its own name.
(c) Enter into contracts and other instruments necessary,
incidental, or convenient to the performance of its duties and the
exercise of its powers and designate the person or persons who have
authority to execute those contracts and investments on behalf of
the authority.
(d) Solicit, receive, and accept from any source gifts,
grants, loans, appropriations, or contributions of money, property,
or other things of value, and other aid or payment, or participate
in any other way in a federal, state, or local government program.
(e) Procure insurance against loss in connection with the
property, assets, or activities of the authority.
(f) Engage, on a contract basis, the services of private
consultants, managers, legal counsel, and auditors for rendering
professional or technical assistance and advice payable out of any
money of the authority.
(g) Establish and maintain an office and employ and fix
compensation for personnel of the authority. To hire an executive
director or other chief administrative officer who is authorized to
establish and fix a schedule of rents, admission fees, or other
charges for occupancy, use of, or admission to any qualified
facility operated by the authority and provide for the collection
and enforcement of those rents, admission fees, or other charges.
(h) Hold, clear, remediate, improve, maintain, manage,
control, sell, exchange, mortgage and hold mortgages on and other
security interests in, lease, as lessor or lessee, and obtain or
grant easements and licenses on property that the authority
acquires. A sale, exchange, lease, or other disposition of
authority property shall be to a person or persons for a project or
projects involving a qualified facility. Property acquired by the
authority and later determined by the authority to be not necessary
for a qualified facility may be sold or otherwise disposed of for
use or uses not inconsistent with the purposes of this act.
Temporary or permanent easements or licenses or other appropriate
interests in property acquired by the authority may be conveyed or
granted by the authority for utility, vehicular, or pedestrian
traffic facilities, or related purposes not inconsistent with this
act. The authority does not have the power to condemn property.
(i) Operate a qualified facility.
(j) Do all other acts and things necessary or convenient to
carrying out the purposes for which the authority was established.
(2) An authority established under this act shall not levy a
tax.
Sec. 6. Money of the authority shall be held by the authority
and deposited in a financial institution approved by the state
treasurer, which financial institution may give security for the
deposits.
Sec. 7. The property of the authority and its income and
operation are exempt from all taxation by this state or any of its
political subdivisions.
Sec. 8. The authority shall submit an annual report no later
than March 1 of each year relating to its activities for the
preceding calendar year to the governor, the speaker of the house
of representatives, the majority leader of the senate, and to each
member of the house and senate appropriations committees.