The Authority shall have the following powers:
(1) To sue and be sued in its corporate name in any court or before any administrative agency of the State or of the United States, and to enter into agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture or any other legally constituted State or federal agency, or with any county, city or town in the furtherance of the purposes of this Article.
(2) To plan, build, construct, or cause to be built or constructed, or to purchase, lease or acquire the use of any warehouses or other facilities that may be necessary for the successful operation by the Authority of wholesale markets for products of the home, farm, sea and forest at chosen points in North Carolina. The Authority may make such contracts as may be needed for these purposes. In no case shall the Authority be responsible for any rent except from the income of the market in excess of other operating expenses. The Authority may select and employ for each market capable managers, who shall be familiar with the problems of the grower and the distributor, and of the marketing of farm products, and who shall have the business ability and training to operate a market and to plan for its proper development and growth in order best to serve the interests of producers, distributors, consumers in the area, and the general public. The managers may employ assistants and agents with the approval of the Authority. The Authority may make such regulations as will promote the policy of this Article, as to the manner in which the markets shall be operated, the business conducted, and stalls sublet to dealers.
(3) To fix the terms upon which individual, cooperative or corporate wholesale merchants, warehouses or warehousemen may place their facilities or services under the supervision and regulation of the Authority. The Authority may extend to any such wholesale merchants, warehouses or warehousemen marketing benefits in the form of inspection, market informational and news service and may make regulations as to the operation of such facilities or services and as to forms, reports, handling, grades, weights, packages, labels, and other standards for the products handled by such merchants, warehouses or warehousemen.
(4) To fix rentals and charges for each type of service or facility in the markets under its control, taking into consideration the cost of such facility or service, the interest and amortization period required, a proper relationship between types of operators in the market, cost of operation, and the need for reasonable reserves for repairs, depreciation, expansion, and similar items. These rentals and charges shall not bring any profit to any agency over and above the costs of operation, necessary reserves, and debt service.
(5) To issue permits to itinerant dealers in intrastate commerce, who express a willingness to come under the program of the State Marketing Authority. Such permits shall enable the holders to solicit orders and to buy and sell produce under the rules and regulations of the Authority and in conformance with G.S. 106-185 to 106-196 and not inconsistent with the United States Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930 (46 Stat. 531).
(6) To issue bonds and other securities to obtain funds to acquire, construct, and equip warehouses to be used in carrying out the purposes of this Article. The bonds shall be entitled "North Carolina Marketing Authority Bonds" and shall be issued in such form and denominations and shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding 30 years after their date, and shall bear such interest, not exceeding five percent (5%) per annum, payable either annually or semiannually, as the Authority shall determine. They shall be signed by the chairman of the Authority, and the corporate seal affixed or impressed upon each bond and attested by the secretary-treasurer of the Authority. The coupons shall bear the facsimile signature of the chairman officiating when the bonds are issued. Any issue of these bonds and notes may be sold publicly, or at private sale for not less than par to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or other State or federal agency or may be given in exchange to any county, city, town or individual for the lease or purchase of property to be used by the Authority. To secure such indebtedness, the Authority may give mortgages or deeds of trust, executed in the same manner as the bonds, on the property purchased or acquired, and may pledge the revenues from the markets in excess of operating expenses, interest and insurance: Provided, that each market shall be operated on a separate financial basis, and only such revenues and properties of each separate market shall be liable for the obligations of that market. No obligations incurred by the Authority shall be obligations of the State of North Carolina or any of its political subdivisions, or a burden on the taxpayers of the State or any political subdivision. This does not prevent the State or any of its agencies, departments or institutions, or any private or public agency from making a contribution to the Authority, in money or services or otherwise.
Bonds and notes issued under this Article shall be exempt from all State, county or municipal taxes or assessments of any kind; the interest shall not be taxable as income, nor shall the notes, bonds, nor coupons be taxable as part of the surplus of any bank, trust company or other corporation.
Any resolution or resolutions authorizing any bonds shall contain provisions which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds, as to:
a. Pledging the fees, rentals, charges, dues, tolls, and inspection and sales fees, and other revenues to secure payment of the bonds;
b. The rates of the fees or tolls to be charged for the use of the facilities of the warehouse or warehouses, and the use and disposition of the revenues from its operation;
c. The setting aside of reserves or working funds, and the regulation and disposition thereof;
d. Limitations on the purposes to which the proceeds of sale of any issue of bonds may be applied;
e. Limitations on the issuance of additional bonds; and
f. The procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds the holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which such consent may be given.
(7) To accept grants in aid or free work.
(8) To adopt, use and alter a corporate seal.
(9) To dispossess tenants for nonpayment of rent and for failure to abide by the regulations of the Authority.
(10) To hire necessary agents, engineers, and attorneys, and to do all things necessary to carry out the powers granted by this Article. (1941, c. 39, s. 3.)
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Last modified: March 23, 2014