(1) The board shall, within sixty (60) days after the appointment of its entire initial membership, and thereafter in July of each year, elect from its members a chairman and a vice chairman. It may, in its discretion, employ an executive director and a secretary-treasurer, neither of whom shall be a member of the board; provided, however, if the creation and establishment of the authority is shown by the provisions of the proceedings or joint proceedings to have been undertaken only on a standby basis, the board may defer the employment of an executive director and may, on an interim basis, designate a secretary-treasurer from its own membership.
(2) The board may, in its discretion, employ necessary legal counsel and other agents and employees to carry out its work and functions, and may from time to time prescribe and alter such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary.
(3) The executive director, if and when employed in the discretion of the board, shall be experienced and knowledgeable in the field of transportation; and if and when employed, such executive director shall be the chief executive officer of the authority, having such powers and duties as the board may prescribe. Such executive director may recommend the establishment or alteration of rules and regulations, and of rates and charges for use of the services and facilities of the mass transportation system of the authority; but action in such respects, and in the issuance of revenue bonds or mortgage bonds of the authority, and in requesting the issuance of general obligation bonds by other public bodies for the benefit of the authority, and in authorizing leases of the properties of the authority for financing purposes, shall be taken by the board, or by the executive committee of the board if properly thereunto authorized.
(4) The secretary-treasurer shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the board, and shall also keep a set of books showing the receipts and expenditures of the board. He or she shall preserve on file duplicate vouchers for all expenditures and shall present to the board, upon request, complete reports of all financial transactions and the financial condition of the board. Such books and vouchers shall at all times be subject to examination by the governing body of any public body by which the authority was created or enlarged. He or she shall transmit at least once annually a detailed report of all acts and doings of the board to the public body or bodies by whom the board was created. He or she shall cause all moneys of the authority coming into his or her hands to be deposited in one (1) or more financial institutions, as designated from time to time by the board.
(5) The board shall require its secretary-treasurer, and its executive director, if and when such executive director shall be employed, each to execute bond in favor of the authority, in such respective penal sums as the board may fix, in favor of the authority, and conditioned upon faithful performance of the duties of such offices and full accounting to the authority. Each such bond shall be with corporate surety, provided by a corporate surety company qualified to transact business in Kentucky and approved, in each instance, by the board. The board may in like manner require
similar bonds, with corporate surety, to be given by other officers, agents, and employees in such manner and in such penal sums, as it may specify from time to time. Premiums payable to sureties upon such bonds shall be paid by the authority and may be chargeable as an operating expense of the authority.
(6) The board shall fix the salaries, wages, or other compensation of the officers, agents, and employees whom it may engage from time to time; in each case within such limitations, if any, as may be prescribed in the proceedings or joint proceedings set forth in the establishment of the authority, or as such proceedings may be amended; but such salaries, wages, or other compensation shall constitute obligation of the authority only, and shall be payable from the authority’s revenues and any other available resources, and shall not constitute obligations of any city or county participating in the creation and establishment, or subsequent enlargement, of the authority.
(7) The board may, by resolution duly adopted and spread at large upon its public records, establish an executive committee, composed of such members of the board as may be specified in such resolution, and may authorize such executive committee to exercise in intervals between board meetings any powers of the board except those powers which are expressly required by this chapter or by other controlling provisions of law to be exercised by the board.
(8) The board may create such other committees of its members as it may deem necessary or proper; but the same shall be advisory in nature and shall report to the board or to the executive committee, and shall not be authorized to take any independent action except in such advisory capacity.
(9) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, when a city of the first class and a county containing such city have in effect a compact under KRS § 79.310 to KRS § 79.330, the executive director and a secretary-treasurer or any individual, corporation, or partnership, either by contract or employment, who serves as executive director or secretary-treasurer in the management of the affairs of the board, shall be appointed by and serve at the joint pleasure of the mayor, and the county judge/executive with the approval of fiscal court pursuant to KRS § 67.040. Upon the establishment of a consolidated local government in a county in which a city of the first class and a county containing the city have had in effect a cooperative compact under KRS
79.310 to 79.330, an executive director or secretary-treasurer shall be appointed by, and shall serve at the pleasure of, the mayor.
Effective: July 15, 2002
History: Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 346, sec. 118, effective July 15, 2002. — Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 77, sec. 17, effective July 15, 1986. — Created 1970 Ky. Acts ch. 243, sec. 8.