(a) Each authority shall have all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power:

(1) To bring and defend actions;

(2) To adopt and amend a corporate seal;

(3) To make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary to exercise the powers of the authority, any of which contracts may be made with the county in which the authority is located or with any one or more municipal corporations in such county; each such county and all municipal corporations therein are authorized to enter into contracts with the authority;

(4) To receive and administer gifts, grants, and devises of any property and to administer trusts;

(5) To acquire, by purchase, gift, or construction, any real or personal property desired to be acquired as part of any project or for the purpose of improving, extending, adding to, reconstructing, renovating, or remodeling any project or part thereof already acquired or for the purpose of demolition to make room for such project or any part thereof;

(6) To sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, mortgage, dispose of, or grant options for any real or personal property or interest therein for any such purposes;

(7) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (7.1) of this Code section, to dispose of any real property for fair market value, regardless of prior development of such property as a project, whenever the board of directors of the authority may deem such disposition to be in the best interests of the authority if the board of directors of the authority prior to such disposition shall determine that such real property no longer can be used advantageously as a project for the development of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities;

(7.1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, to dispose of any real property for fair market value or any amount below fair market value as determined by the board of directors of the authority, regardless of prior development of such property as a project, whenever the board of directors of the authority may deem such disposition to be in the best interests of the authority if the board of directors of the authority prior to such disposition shall determine that such real property no longer can be used advantageously as a project for the development of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities and if title to such real property is to be transferred to the state;

(8) To mortgage, convey, pledge, or assign any properties, revenues, income, tolls, charges, or fees owned or received by the authority;

(9) To appoint officers and retain agents, engineers, attorneys, fiscal agents, accountants, and employees and to provide for their compensation and duties;

(10) To extend credit or make loans to any person, firm, corporation, or other industrial entity for the planning, design, construction, acquisition, or carrying out of any project, which credit or loans shall be secured by loan agreements, mortgages, security agreements, contracts, and all other instruments, fees, or charges, upon such terms and conditions as the authority shall determine reasonable in connection with such loans, including provision for the establishment and maintenance of reserves and insurance funds; and, in the exercise of powers granted by this Code section in connection with a project for such person, firm, corporation, or other industrial entity, to require the inclusion in any contract, loan agreement, security agreement, or other instrument, of such provisions for guaranty, insurance, construction, use, operation, maintenance, and financing of a project as the authority may deem necessary or desirable;

(11) To acquire, accept, or retain equitable interests, security interests, or other interest in any property, real or personal, by mortgage, assignment, security agreement, pledge, conveyance, contract, lien, loan agreement, or other consensual transfer, in order to secure the repayment of any moneys loaned or credit extended by the authority;

(12) To construct, acquire, own, repair, remodel, maintain, extend, improve, and equip projects located on land owned or leased by the authority or land owned or leased by others and to pay all or part of the cost of any such project from the proceeds of revenue bonds of the authority or from any contribution or loans by persons, firms, or corporations or any other contribution, all of which the authority is authorized to receive, accept, and use;

(13) To borrow money and issue its revenue bonds and bond anticipation notes from time to time and to use the proceeds thereof for the purpose of paying all or part of the cost of any project, including the cost of extending, adding to, or improving the project, or for the purpose of refunding any such bonds of the authority theretofore issued and to otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter and to pay all other costs of the authority incident to or necessary and appropriate to such purposes, including the providing of funds to be paid into any fund or funds to secure such bonds and notes, provided that all such bonds and notes shall be issued in accordance with the procedures and subject to the limitations set forth in Code Section 36-62-8;

(14) As security for repayment of authority obligations, to pledge, mortgage, convey, assign, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber any property, real or personal, of such authority and to execute any trust agreement, indenture, or security agreement containing any provisions not in conflict with law, which trust agreement, indenture, or security agreement may provide for foreclosure or forced sale of any property of the authority upon default, on such obligations, either in payment of principal or interest or in the performance of any term or condition, as are contained in such agreement or indenture. This state, on behalf of itself and each county, municipal corporation, political subdivision, or taxing district therein, waives any right which it or such county, municipal corporation, political subdivision, or taxing district may have to prevent the forced sale or foreclosure of any property of the authority so mortgaged or encumbered, and any such mortgage or encumbrance may be foreclosed in accordance with law and the terms thereof;

(15) If any authority authorizing an air transportation facility, to contract with any county or municipal corporation in the state; and any county or municipal corporation in the state is empowered to contract with any such authority to furnish air transportation services where such service is not otherwise in existence;

(16) To expend for the promotion of industry, agriculture, and trade within its area of operations any funds of the authority determined by the authority to be in excess of those needed for the other corporate purposes of the authority; and

(17) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers expressly conferred by this chapter.

(b) This Code section shall not be construed as authorizing an authority as defined in this chapter to exercise the power of eminent domain.