(A) An authority is a public body, corporate and politic, exercising public and essential governmental powers, including powers necessary or appropriate to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including the following powers:

(1) to make and from time to time amend and repeal bylaws, rules, regulations, and resolutions;

(2) to have perpetual succession;

(3) to adopt a seal;

(4) to sue and be sued;

(5) to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the authority; and any contract or instrument when signed by the chairman or vice chairman and secretary or assistant secretary of the authority must be held to have been properly executed for and on its behalf;

(6) to cooperate with any government or municipality as defined in this title;

(7) to act as agent of the state or federal government or its instrumentalities or agencies for the public purposes set out in this title;

(8) to prepare or cause to be prepared and adopt redevelopment plans and to undertake and carry out redevelopment projects within its area of operation;

(9) to arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair by any person or agency, public or private, of services, privileges, works, streets, roads, public utilities, or other facilities for or in connection with a redevelopment project; provided, however, this power does not alter or amend the rights, responsibilities, or powers of electrical utilities, electric cooperatives, electric suppliers, municipal electric systems, or the Public Service Authority as provided in Chapters 27 and 31 of Title 58 and § 5-7-60;

(10) within its area of operation, to purchase, obtain options upon, acquire by gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise, real or personal property or any interest in it, together with any improvements on it, necessary or incidental to a redevelopment project, to hold, improve, clear, or prepare for redevelopment of the property, and sell, exchange, transfer, assign, subdivide, retain for its own use, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise encumber or dispose of real or personal property or any interest in it, either as an entirety to a single redeveloper or in parts to several redevelopers, to enter into contracts, either before or after the real property that is the subject of the contract is acquired by the authority, with redevelopers of property containing covenants, restrictions, and conditions regarding the use of the property for residential, commercial, industrial, or recreational purposes or for public purposes in accordance with the redevelopment plan and such other covenants, restrictions, and conditions as the authority may consider necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter; and to provide appropriate remedies for any breach of covenants or conditions, including the right to terminate the contracts and any interest in the property created pursuant to them; to borrow money and issue bonds and provide security for bonds, provided that the authority may not pledge the full faith and credit of the State or of any of its political subdivisions for the repayment of the bonds; to insure or provide for the insurance of real or personal property or operations of the authority against any risks or hazards, including the power to pay premiums on the insurance; and to enter into contracts necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter;

(11) to invest funds held in reserves or sinking funds or funds not required for immediate disbursements, in the investments as may be lawful for guardians, executors, administrators, or other fiduciaries under the laws of this State; and to redeem its bonds at the redemption price established therein or to purchase its bonds at less than redemption price, all bonds so redeemed or purchased to be canceled;

(12) to borrow money and to apply for and accept advances, loans evidenced by bonds, grants, contributions, and any other form of financial assistance from the federal government, the State, county, municipality, or other public body or from any sources, public or private, for the purposes of this chapter, to give this security as may be required, and to enter into and carry out contracts in connection with it;

(13) within its area of operation, to make or have made all surveys, studies, and plans necessary to the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter and in connection with it to enter into or upon any land, building, or improvement on it and to make soundings, test borings, surveys, appraisals, and other preliminary studies and investigations necessary to carry out its powers and to contract or cooperate with persons or agencies, public or private, in the making and carrying out the surveys, appraisals, studies, and plans. An authority is specifically authorized to make:

(a) plans for carrying out a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements; and

(b) plans for the enforcement of laws, codes, and regulations relating to the use of land, the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and improvements, subject to the approval of the municipality, or county if not within a municipality, within which the properties lie;

(14) to make expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and to make expenditures from funds obtained from the federal government;

(15) to perform redevelopment project undertakings and activities in one or more contiguous or noncontiguous redevelopment areas that are planned and carried out on the basis of annual tax increments in accordance with the remaining provisions of this chapter.

(16) to use the redevelopment fees provided pursuant to § 12-10-88 for the administration and implementation of the redevelopment authority’s redevelopment plans which may include programs to reduce unemployment or increase the property tax base in the area served by the authority, including without limitation, by permitting the use of the fees by multicounty economic development not-for-profit corporations whose members include one or more counties that contain some or all of the area of operation of the redevelopment authority for their administration and operating costs.

(B) In carrying out a redevelopment project, an authority may:

(1) with or without consideration and at private sale, in accordance with the redevelopment plan, convey real property to the municipality, county, or other appropriate public body to be laid out for streets, alleys, and public ways;

(2) with or without consideration convey at private sale, in accordance with the redevelopment plan, grant, or dedicate easements and rights-of-way for public utilities, sewers, streets, and other similar facilities;

(3) with or without consideration and at private sale, in accordance with the redevelopment plan, convey to a municipality, county, or other appropriate public body, real property to be used for parks, schools, public buildings, facilities, or other public purposes; and

(4) temporarily rent or lease, operate, or maintain real property in a redevelopment area, whether or not in accordance with the redevelopment plan and pending the disposition of the property for redevelopment, as may be deemed appropriate.

(C) In developing its redevelopment plans, an authority must:

(1) take into account the needs of the surrounding community;

(2) attempt to integrate the redevelopment of the properties scheduled for disposition with any adjacent areas; and

(3) consider the extent to which the plan compliments the existing development of the community, the competitive effect on existing businesses in the community, and the compatibility of the redevelopment with the community. To that end, and with the consent and concurrence of the local governing body having planning and zoning authority over the surrounding areas, the authority may prepare and implement plans for public infrastructure or other improvements which would be authorized under the Community Development Law for a municipality in those areas.

(D) In furtherance of its purposes, an authority may issue revenue bonds, the interest on which may or may not be excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes, for the purpose of raising funds needed from time to time for the financing or refinancing, in whole or in part, of the acquisition, construction, equipping, maintenance, and operation of any facility, building, structure, or any other matter or thing which the authority is authorized to acquire, construct, equip, maintain, or operate.