Bill Text: MI HB4026 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: State agencies (proposed): authorities; use of grant funds and issuance of revenue bonds; modify. Amends secs. 2, 4, 8, 9, 14 & 22 of 1978 PA 639 (MCL 120.102 et seq.).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-01-19 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 01/19/2023 [HB4026 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB4026-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 4026
A bill to amend 1978 PA 639, entitled
"Hertel-Law-T. Stopczynski port authority act,"
by amending sections 2, 4, 8, 9, 14, and 22 (MCL 120.102, 120.104, 120.108, 120.109, 120.114, and 120.122), section 14 as amended by 2002 PA 412.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
(a) "Authority" means a port authority created under this act and may also include the area within the jurisdiction of an authority.
(b) "Constituent unit" means a city or county requesting the incorporation of an authority.
(c) "Governing body of the city" means the city council or city commission of a city requesting incorporation of an authority. created under this act.
(d) "Governing body of the county" means the county board of commissioners of a county participating in an authority. created under this act.
(e) "Port facilities" means those facilities owned by the port authority such as: seawall jetties; piers; wharves; docks; boat landings; marinas; warehouses; storehouses; elevators; grain bins; cold storage plants; terminal icing plants; bunkers; oil tanks; ferries; canals; locks; bridges; tunnels; seaways; conveyors; modern appliances for the economical handling, storage, and transportation of freight and handling of passenger traffic; transfer and terminal facilities required for the efficient operation and development of ports and harbors; other harbor improvements; or improvements, enlargements, remodeling, or extensions of any of these buildings or structures.structures and improvements to land located alongside navigable water that are used for 1 or more of the following:
(i) Loading and unloading of cargo from ships, ferries, and other floating vessels.
(ii) Support of the operation of vessels.
(iii) Cargo handling, storage, packing, and transfer or movement to other modes of transportation.
(iv) Assembly, processing, refinement, or improvement of goods recently received from, or before entry into, maritime transport.
(f) "Project" means the acquisition, purchase, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, remodeling, improvement, enlargement, repair, condemnation, maintenance, financing, or operation of port facilities. Project does not include a bridge or tunnel that directly or indirectly crosses an international boundary.
Sec. 4. (1) A city and county, a combination of counties, or a combination consisting of at least 1 city and 1 county, by joint resolution of their respective governing bodies, may request the governor to authorize the incorporation of an authority. The governor shall consider the recommendations of the state transportation department of state highways and transportation and the department of commerce in authorizing the authority. The initial articles of incorporation shall must be approved by the governor and may, thereafter after the initial approval, be amended by resolution of the authority, subject to approval by the governor. After approval by the governor, the articles of incorporation and any amendments to those articles shall be are effective upon on filing with the secretary of state.
(2) An authority created under this act shall be is a body corporate and politic.
(3) The exercise by an authority of the powers conferred by this act shall be considered and held to be is an essential governmental function and a benefit to, and a legitimate public purpose of, the this state, the authority, and the constituent units.
(4) This act does not give an authority jurisdiction over real or personal property owned, leased, or used by this state or by an individual or entity under a lease or contract with this state for use of that property.
(5) A project of an authority or financed by an authority must not interfere with the construction, maintenance, or operation of either of the following:
(a) State-owned infrastructure.
(b) A seawall, jetty, pier, wharf, dock, boat landing, marina, or other improvement used on or connected to the commercially navigable waters that provide water access for the construction, maintenance, or operation of state-owned infrastructure.
Sec. 8. An Subject to section 4(4) and (5), an authority may do 1 or more of the following:
(a) Adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business.
(b) Sue and be sued on the same basis as the this state. ; and adopt
(c) Adopt and register with the secretary of state an official seal and alter that seal at its pleasure.
(d) (c) Maintain offices at a place or places, either within or without its jurisdiction, as it may determine.
(e) (d) Acquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, improve, maintain, finance, lease as lessor or as lessee, repair, or operate port facilities within its territorial jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, the dredging of ship channels and turning basins and the filling and grading of land therefor. related to these improvements. An authority may operate a leased facility, owned by the authority, if the lessee defaults and a new lease is negotiated or competitively bid.
(f) (e) Designate the location and character of the port facilities which that the authority may hold or own or over which it is authorized to act and regulate all matters related to the location and character of those port facilities.
(g) (f) Acquire, hold, and dispose of real and personal property.
(h) (g) Make directly, or through the hiring of expert consultants, investigations and surveys of whatever nature, including studies of business conditions, freight rates, port services, physical surveys of the conditions of channels and structures, and the necessity for additional port facilities for the development and improvement of commerce and recreation and for the more expeditious handling of that commerce and recreation, and make studies, surveys, and estimates, as necessary for the execution of its powers under this act.
(i) (h) Promulgate all necessary rules to fulfill the purposes of this act.
(j) (i) Issue its bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness as provided in this act.
(k) (j) Fix, and revise from time to time and periodically, charge, and collect rates, fees, rentals, or other charges for the use of a facility owned by the authority.
Sec. 9. An authority may do 1 or more of the following:
(a) Appear in on its own behalf before boards, any of the following:
(i) Boards, commissions, departments, or other agencies of the federal government or of any state or international conferences and before committees of the congress of the United States and the state legislature in all matters relating to the design, establishment, construction, extension, operation, improvement, repair, or maintenance of a project operated, and maintained, or financed by the authority under this act. , and appear before any
(ii) Any federal or state agencies in matters relating to transportation rates, port services and charges, demurrage, switching, wharfage, towage, pilotage, differentials, discriminations, labor relations, trade practices, river and harbor improvements, aids to navigation, permits for structures in navigable waters, and all other matters affecting the physical development of, and the business interest of, the authority and those it serves.
(b) Make application Apply for, receive, and accept from any a federal, state, or municipal agency, foundation, public or private agency, or individual, a grant or loan for, or in aid of, the planning, construction, operation, or financing of a port facility; project, and receive and accept contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied for the purposes for which the grant or contribution may be is made.
(c) Appoint an executive director. who shall be All of the following apply to an executive director appointed under this subdivision:
(i) The executive director is the chief administrative executive officer of the authority. , and to whom the
(ii) The authority may delegate any of its administrative powers and authorizations to the executive director.
(iii) During employment, the executive director shall not have a financial interest in port facilities or projects over which the authority has jurisdiction or power or authorization to act.
(d) Employ personnel as is necessary and employ the services of private consultants and engineers, legal counsel, accountants, construction and financial experts, and other agents for rendering professional and technical assistance and advice as may be necessary. , and whose The authority shall determine the compensation of persons employed by the authority, including the executive director. , shall be determined by the authority.
Sec. 14. (1) An authority may provide by resolution for the issuance of revenue bonds of the authority for the purpose of providing funds for paying the cost of port facilities, or for paying the cost of an extension, enlargement, or improvement of a project then under the control of the authority or financed by the authority. The bonds issued under this section shall must mature at a time or times, not exceeding 40 years after their date of issuance, as the authority may provide.
(2) Revenue bonds issued under this section are subject to the revenue bond act of 1933, 1933 PA 94, MCL 141.101 to 141.140.
(3) Revenue bonds issued pursuant to this section shall do not be considered to constitute a debt of this state, a political subdivision of this state, the authority, or any a constituent unit, or a pledge of the faith and credit of this state, or a political subdivision of this state, or of the authority, or any a constituent unit, but shall be are payable solely from the revenues or income to be derived from the projects. The revenue bonds shall must contain on their face a statement to the effect that the bonds and attached coupons are payable solely from revenues and are not a general obligation of this state, a political subdivision of this state, the authority, or a constituent unit, and neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of this state, a political subdivision of this state, the authority, or a constituent unit, is pledged to the payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds.
Sec. 22. (1) An authority created under this act shall be is exempt from and shall is not be required to pay taxes on property, both real and personal, belonging to the authority, which that is used exclusively for a public purpose. However, the exemption shall does not apply to property belonging to an authority while a private enterprise is an operator or a lessee of the property under a written lease or a concessionaire under a concession agreement, notwithstanding the terms of that written lease or concession agreement.
(2) The bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, or their transfer, issued by an authority as authorized in this act, the interest thereon, on those bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, the income derived, and the profit from a sale, shall be are exempt from taxation, other than inheritance and estate taxes, within this state.
(3) (2) This section constitutes a covenant and agreement with the holders of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued by an authority.
