18-812. Regional metropolitan transit authority; powers.

For purposes of the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act, a regional metropolitan transit authority shall possess all of the necessary powers of a public body corporate and politic and governmental subdivision of the State of Nebraska, including, but not limited to:

(1) To maintain a principal office and, if necessary, satellite offices in the municipality or municipalities which form the authority;

(2) To adopt an official seal;

(3) To employ a general manager, engineers, accountants, attorneys, financial experts, and such other employees and agents as may be necessary and to fix the compensation of such employees and agents;

(4) To adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations for the regulation of its affairs and for the conduct of its business;

(5) To acquire, lease, own, maintain, and operate for public service a public transit system, excluding taxicabs, transportation network companies, and interstate railroad systems, within any municipality in which such authority (a) is deemed to have operating jurisdiction pursuant to section 18-804 or (b) is permitted to provide service under the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act;

(6) To sue and be sued in its own name, but execution shall not, in any case, issue against any of its property, except that the lessor, vendor, or trustee under any agreement, lease, conditional sales contract, conditional lease contract, or equipment trust certificate, as provided for in subdivision (15) of this section, may repossess the equipment described therein upon default;

(7) To acquire, lease, and hold such real or personal property wherever located and any rights, interests, or easements therein as may be necessary or convenient for the purpose of the authority, including, but not limited to, the acquisition, leasing, and holding of any real property along a planned future public transit route, and to sell, assign, and convey such property;

(8) To make and enter into any and all contracts and agreements with (a) any individual, (b) any public or private corporation or agency of the State of Nebraska, (c) any public or private corporation or agency of any state of the United States that is adjacent to any municipality or municipalities (i) which form the authority in which such authority has operating jurisdiction pursuant to section 18-804 or (ii) in which such authority may otherwise be operating or providing service, and (d) the United States Government, as may be necessary or incidental to the performance of the duties of the authority and the execution of its powers under the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and to enter into agreements under the Interlocal Cooperation Act or the Joint Public Agency Act;

(9) To contract with an operating and management company for the purpose of operating, servicing, and maintaining any public transit system of the authority;

(10) To borrow money and issue and sell negotiable revenue bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness, to provide for the rights of the holders thereof, and to pledge all or any part of the income of the authority received under the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act to secure the payment thereof;

(11) To receive and accept from the United States Government or any agency thereof, from the State of Nebraska or any subdivision thereof, and from any person or corporation, donations or loans or grants for or in aid of the acquisition or operation of public transit facilities, and to administer, hold, use, and apply the same for the purposes for which such grants or donations may have been made;

(12) To exercise the right of eminent domain under and pursuant to the laws of the State of Nebraska to acquire private property, including any existing private passenger transportation system, but excluding any taxicabs, transportation network companies, railroads, and air passenger transportation systems, which is necessary for the public transit purposes of the authority, including the right to acquire rights and easements across, under, or over the rights-of-way of any railroad. Exercise of the right of eminent domain shall be pursuant to sections 76-704 to 76-724;

(13) To use for transportation of passengers and services or improvements related to such transportation, any public road, public street, or other public way in any municipality in which such authority is (a) deemed to have operating jurisdiction pursuant to section 18-804 or (b) permitted to provide service under the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act, subject in all cases to the continuing rights of the public to the use thereof;

(14) To purchase and dispose of equipment and to execute any agreement, lease, conditional sales contract, conditional lease contract, or equipment trust note or certificate to effect such purpose;

(15) To pay for any equipment and rentals in installments and to give evidence by equipment trust notes or certificates of any deferred installments. Title to such equipment need not vest in the authority until the equipment trust notes or certificates are paid;

(16) To levy an annual property tax pursuant to section 18-822 for the fiscal year commencing on the following January 1, not to exceed in any one year ten cents on each one hundred dollars on the taxable value of the taxable property that at the time of the levy is located in, or during the ensuing fiscal year will be located in, any municipality in which such authority is deemed to have operating jurisdiction pursuant to section 18-804;

(17) To apply for and accept grants and loans from the United States Government, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, to be used for any of the authorized purposes of the authority, and to enter into any agreement with the United States Government, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, in relation to such grants or loans, subject to the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act;

(18) To determine routes of any public transit system of the authority and to change such routes subject to the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act;

(19) To fix rates, fares, and charges for any public transit system and related facilities of the authority;

(20) To provide free transportation for firefighters and police officers in uniform in the municipality or municipalities served by the authority in which they are employed or upon presentation of proper firefighter or police officer identification and for employees of such authority when in uniform;

(21) To enter into agreements with the United States Postal Service or its successors for the transportation of mail and letter carriers and the payment therefor;

(22) To exercise all powers usually granted to corporations, public and private, necessary or convenient to carry out the powers granted by the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act; and

(23) To establish pension and retirement plans for officers and employees and to adopt any existing pension and retirement plans and any existing pension and retirement contracts for officers and employees of any passenger transportation system purchased or otherwise acquired pursuant to the Regional Metropolitan Transit Authority Act.

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