(1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

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(a) ‘Authority’ means the Oregon Facilities Authority created by this chapter.

(b) ‘Bonds’ or ‘revenue bonds’ means revenue bonds, as defined in ORS § 286A.001.

(c) ‘Cost’ means the cost of:

(A) Construction, acquisition, alteration, enlargement, reconstruction and remodeling of a project, including all lands, structures, real or personal property, rights, rights of way, air rights, franchises, easements and interests acquired or used for or in connection with a project;

(B) Demolition or removal of buildings or structures on land as acquired, including the cost of acquiring lands to which the buildings or structures may be moved;

(C) All machinery and equipment;

(D) Financing charges, interest prior to, during and for a period after completion of construction and acquisition, reasonably required amounts to make the project operational, provisions for reserves for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations and improvements;

(E) Architectural, actuarial engineering, financial and legal services, plans specifications, studies, surveys, estimates of costs and of revenues, administrative expenses, expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of constructing the project;

(F) Management, operation or funding of a qualified program; and

(G) Other expenses that are necessary or incident to a project, the financing of the project or the placing of the project in operation.

(d) ‘Cultural institution‘ means a public or nonprofit institution within this state which engages in the cultural, intellectual, scientific, environmental, educational or artistic enrichment of the people of this state. ‘Cultural institution’ includes, without limitation, aquaria, botanical societies, historical societies, land conservation organizations, libraries, museums, performing arts associations or societies, scientific societies, wildlife conservation organizations and zoological societies. ‘Cultural institution’ does not mean any school or any institution primarily engaged in religious or sectarian activities.

(e) ‘Health care institution’ means a public or nonprofit organization within this state that provides health care and related services, including but not limited to the provision of inpatient and outpatient care, diagnostic or therapeutic services, laboratory services, medicinal drugs, nursing care, assisted living, elderly care and housing, including retirement communities, and equipment used or useful for the provision of health care and related services.

(f) ‘Housing institution’ means a public or nonprofit organization within this state that provides decent, affordable housing to low-income persons.

(g) ‘Institution’ means a cultural institution, a health care institution, a housing institution, an institution for higher education, an institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education, a school for persons with disabilities or another nonprofit.

(h) ‘Institution for higher education’ means a public or nonprofit educational institution within this state authorized by law to provide a program of education beyond the high school level, including community colleges and associate degree granting institutions. ‘Institution for higher education’ does not mean any school or any institution primarily engaged in religious or sectarian activities.

(i) ‘Institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education’ means a provider under the Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten Program as defined in ORS § 329.175, a public educational institution within this state authorized by law to provide a program of education for kindergarten through grade 12 or a nonprofit educational institution within this state that provides a program of education for prekindergarten through grade 12 as a private school. ‘Institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education’ does not mean a school or institution primarily engaged in religious or sectarian activities.

(j) ‘Nonprofit’ means an institution, organization or entity within this state exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in ORS § 314.011.

(k)(A) ‘Project’ means the financing or refinancing of the costs, including, without limitation, acquisition, construction, enlargement, remodeling, renovation, improvement, furnishing and equipping, of the following:

(i) In the case of a participating institution that is an institution for higher education, an institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education or a school for persons with disabilities, a structure, within this state or outside this state, that is suitable for use as a dormitory or other multiunit housing facility for students, faculty, officers or employees, or a dining hall, student union, administration building, academic building, library, laboratory, research facility, classroom, athletic facility, health care facility, maintenance, storage or utility facility and other structures or facilities, within this state or outside this state, that are related to any of the structures required or used for the instruction of students, the conducting of research or the operation of an institution for higher education, an institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education or a school for persons with disabilities. A project defined in this sub-subparagraph includes landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the operation of a particular facility or structure in the manner for which its use is intended and also includes any furnishings, equipment, machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the operation of an institution of higher education, an institution for prekindergarten through grade 12 education or a school for persons with disabilities, whether or not the items are related to a particular facility or structure financed under this chapter.

(ii) In the case of a participating institution that is a housing institution, a structure, within this state or outside this state, that is suitable for use as housing, including residences or multiunit housing facilities, administration buildings, maintenance, storage or utility facilities and other structures or facilities, within this state or outside this state, that are related to any of the structures required or used for the operation of the housing, including parking and other facilities or structures essential or convenient for the orderly provision of the housing. A project defined in this sub-subparagraph includes landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the particular housing facility or structure in the manner for which its use is intended and also includes any furnishings, equipment, machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the provision of housing, whether or not the items are related to a particular facility or structure financed under this chapter.

(iii) In the case of a participating institution that is a cultural institution, a structure, within this state or outside this state, that is suitable for the institution’s purposes, whether or not to be used to provide educational services, or research resources, including use as or in connection with an administrative facility, aquarium, assembly hall, auditorium, botanical garden, exhibition hall, gallery, greenhouse, library, museum, scientific laboratory, theater or zoological facility. A project defined in this sub-subparagraph includes supporting facilities, landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment, machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the operation of a cultural institution, whether or not the items are related to a particular facility or structure financed under this chapter, including books, works of art or other items for display or exhibition.

(iv) In the case of a participating institution that is a health care institution, a structure, within this state or outside this state, that is suitable for the institution’s purposes, including hospital facilities, inpatient and outpatient clinics, doctors’ offices, administration buildings, parking, maintenance, storage or utility facilities, nursing care or assisted living facilities, elderly care and housing facilities, including retirement communities, and other structures or facilities, within this state or outside this state, that are related to any of the structures required or used for the operation of the health care institution, including other facilities or structures essential or convenient for the orderly provision of the health care. A project defined in this sub-subparagraph includes landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the particular health care facility or structure in the manner for which its use is intended and also includes any working capital, furnishings, equipment, machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the provision of health care, whether or not the items are related to a particular facility or structure financed under this chapter.

(v) In the case of a participating institution that is a nonprofit not otherwise specified in this paragraph, a structure, within this state or outside this state, that is suitable for the institution’s purposes, including facilities or structures essential or convenient for the orderly operations of the nonprofit. A project defined in this sub-subparagraph includes acquisition of interests in land, landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the nonprofit, whether or not the items are related to a particular facility or structure financed under this chapter, including borrowings needed to alleviate interim cash flow deficits of the nonprofit.

(vi) In the case of a participating institution, costs to manage, operate or fund a qualified program or costs to alleviate interim cash flow deficits of the institution.

(B) ‘Project’ also includes any combination of one or more of the projects undertaken jointly by one or more participating institutions with each other or with other parties.

(C) ‘Project’ does not include the financing or refinancing of the costs of a facility used or to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place of religious worship or any facility which is used or to be used primarily in connection with any part of the program of a school or department of divinity for any religious denomination.

(L) ‘Qualified program’ means a financing program, or other activities, of a participating institution that is eligible for financing through the issuance of revenue bonds the interest on which is:

(A) Excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes; or

(B) Eligible for a federal tax credit or subsidy under the Internal Revenue Code.

(m) ‘School for persons with disabilities’ means a public or nonprofit primary, secondary or post-secondary school within this state or outside this state that serves students at least 70 percent of whom are persons with disabilities as determined by one or more appropriate education, rehabilitation, medical or mental health authorities, is accredited by a recognized accrediting body and is determined by the authority to be a major resource of benefit to persons with disabilities. ‘School for persons with disabilities’ does not mean any school or any institution primarily engaged in religious or sectarian activities.

(2) As used in subsection (1) of this section in relation to an institution, ‘within this state’ means that the institution:

(a) Maintains its headquarters, principal office or primary place of business in the State of Oregon;

(b) Owns or operates one or more facilities in the State of Oregon at which it conducts operations in furtherance of its institutional mission; or

(c) Is owned or controlled by, or affiliated under common ownership with, an institution described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection.

(3) As used in subsection (1) of this section in relation to a project, ‘within this state’ means that:

(a) A structure to be financed will be located in the State of Oregon; or

(b) A structure to be financed will be financed for the primary benefit of an institution within this state. [1989 c.820 § 2; 1991 c.408 § 1; 2001 c.270 § 1; 2007 c.70 § 74; 2007 c.783 § 113; 2007 c.785 § 1; 2010 c.3 § 1; 2011 c.301 § 2; 2015 c.548 § 1; 2023 c.547 § 3]

Section 1a, chapter 548, Oregon Laws 2015, provides:

The removal of the words ‘or structures’ from the phrase ‘structure or structures’ by the amendments to ORS § 289.005 by section 1, chapter 548, Oregon Laws 2015:

(1) Does not prohibit the financing of more than one structure;

(2) Does not limit the effect of, and is subject to construction under, ORS § 174.127, under which the singular may include the plural and the plural may include the singular; and

(3) Conforms the language to the form and style requirements of the Legislative Assembly. [2015 c.548 § 1a; 2016 c.88 § 16; 2019 c.13 § 40]