TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 26. Housing and Finance Authority, 50-26-1 through 50-26-22.

ARTICLE 2 DIVISION OF ENERGY RESOURCES

50-26-4. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the term:

1. "Authority" means the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority or any subsidiary corporation created by the board of directors of the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority pursuant to this chapter.
2. "Bonds" or "revenue bonds" means any bonds, revenue bonds, notes, interim certificates, bond or revenue anticipation notes, or other evidences of indebtedness of the authority issued under this chapter, including, without limitation, obligations issued to refund any of the foregoing, notwithstanding that such bonds may be secured by a mortgage or the full faith and credit of a participating provider, health care facility, business, enterprise, or any local government.
3. "Business" means any lawful activity engaged in for profit or not for profit, whether organized as a corporation; a partnership, either general or limited; a sole proprietorship; or otherwise.
4. "Cost of project," "cost of any project," or "cost of an enterprise" means, as the context may require, all, including but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, of the following:
   1. All costs of acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, and all costs of installation, modification, repair, reconditioning, renovation, remodeling, extension, rehabilitation, or preservation incurred in connection with any project or part of any project;
   2. All costs of real property, fixtures, equipment, or personal property used in or in connection with or necessary or convenient for any project or any facility or facilities related thereto, including, but not limited to, cost of land, interests in land, options to purchase, estates for years, easements, rights, improvements, water rights, and connections for utility services; the cost of fees, franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates or the cost of securing any of the foregoing; the cost of preparation of any application therefor; and the cost of all fixtures, machinery, equipment, furniture, and other property used in connection with or necessary or convenient for any project or facility;
   3. All financing charges, including, but not limited to, premiums and prepayment penalties; interest accrued or to accrue prior to and up to three years after the acquisition, installation, financing, or commencement of a project and any other cost related to a project up to three years after such acquisition, installation, financing, refinancing, or commencement; any loan or loan guarantee fees; and any fees paid to or which accrue to the authority regardless of the timing of such fees, prior to, during the operation of, or after the acquisition, installation, financing, refinancing, or commencement of a project;
   4. The cost of architectural, engineering, legal, financing, surveying, planning, environmental reports and inspections, accounting services, and any and all other necessary technical personnel or other expenses necessary or incident to planning, providing, or determining the need for or the feasibility or practicability of a project or financial assistance to or financing of a project;
   5. All fees for legal, accounting, bond, underwriting, trustee, paying agent, option provider, credit enhancement, and fiscal agent services for bondholders under any bond resolution, trust agreement, indenture, or similar instrument or agreement and all expenses incurred by any of the above;
   6. The cost of plans and specifications for any project;
   7. The cost of title insurance and title examinations with respect to any project;
   8. Administrative costs, expenses, and fees rendered or incurred with respect to any project;
   9. The cost of the establishment of any reserves, including, but not limited to, any sinking fund and debt service reserves;
   10. All costs of servicing any loans made or acquired;
   11. The cost of the authority incurred in connection with providing a project, including reasonable sums to reimburse the authority for time spent by its agents or employees in providing and financing a project; and
   12. The cost paid or incurred for the administration of any program for the purchase or lease of or the making of loans for a project by the authority and any program for the sale or lease of or making of loans for a project to any participating provider, business, enterprise, local government, or any other person.
5. "Enterprise" means a business engaged in manufacturing, producing, processing, assembling, repairing, extracting, warehousing, handling, or distributing any agricultural, manufactured, mining, or industrial product or any combination of the foregoing; a business engaged in furnishing or facilitating communications, computer services, research, or transportation; a business engaged in construction; and corporate and management offices and services provided in connection with any of the foregoing, in isolation or in any combination that involves, in each case, either the creation of new or additional employment, the retention of existing employment or payroll, or the increase of average payroll for employees of such enterprise; provided, however, that a shopping center, retail store or shop, or other similar undertaking which is solely or predominantly of a commercial retail nature shall not be an enterprise for the purposes of this chapter.
6. "Facilities" means any real property, personal property, or mixed property of any and every kind.

   (6.1) "Health care services" means any medical, health care, or health care related services provided by a health care provider licensed as a hospital by the Department of Community Health under Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 31, including, without limitation, health care services for indigent patients whether or not such services are supported directly or indirectly, and in whole or in part, through any payment or reimbursement program of any federal, state, or local governmental entity, agency, instrumentality, or authority.

   (6.2) "Health facility" means any nonprofit health care facility which is licensed as a hospital by the Department of Community Health under Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 31, owned or operated by a participating provider, and utilized, directly or indirectly, in health care, medical research, or the training or teaching of health care personnel.

7. "Housing" means a specific work or undertaking, whether acquisition, new construction, or rehabilitation, which is: (A) designed or financed for the primary purpose of providing safe, decent, energy efficient, appropriate, and affordable dwelling accommodations for persons and families of low or moderate income; or (B) designed or financed for special needs populations, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, students, the aged, the infirm, the mentally disabled, the mentally ill, and the physically disabled; such undertakings may include any buildings, land, equipment, facilities, or other real or personal properties which are necessary, convenient, or desirable appurtenances, such as, but not limited to, site preparation, landscaping, and other nonhousing facilities such as recreational, administrative, health care, commercial, community, and staff facilities as the authority deems incidental, necessary, convenient, or desirable appurtenances; retirement homes, centers, and related facilities; nursing homes and related facilities; residential care facilities for the elderly or disabled; and long-term or life-care facilities for the elderly or disabled; or (C) without regard to income, for those geographic areas in which, in the opinion of the authority, the development, preservation, or improvement of housing is necessary for the purposes of: (i) economic development or expansion; or (ii) retaining in or attracting to such area qualified human resources essential to industrial, business, commercial, and residential operations and development. Such undertakings may be either single-family dwellings or multifamily dwellings, energy improvements thereto, or other improvements thereto and may include cooperatives, condominiums, transitional housing, homeless shelters, single-room occupancy housing, and any other building which provides residential opportunities.
8. "Housing finance" means the purchase or acquisition of mortgages or participations therein; the making of loans or grants for housing; the administration of federal housing programs; the underwriting, servicing, and administration of mortgages or participations therein; and the allocation and administration of tax credits pertaining to housing.
9. "Local government" or "local governing authority" means any municipal corporation or county or any state or local authority, board, or political subdivision created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and laws of this state.
10. "Operating capital" means the cost of general operation and administration of a business for a temporary period, not to exceed one year.
11. "Participating provider" means a nonprofit person, corporation, municipal corporation, public corporation, or political subdivision or other nonprofit entity, public or private, which:
    1. Is a hospital authority or is affiliated with a hospital authority organized and existing under the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 31; or
    2. Owns or operates, directly or indirectly, or is affiliated with, at least one nonprofit health facility which is licensed as a hospital by the Department of Community Health under Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 31

       and which contracts under this chapter with the authority for the financing, refinancing, lease, or other acquisition of a project.

12. "Project" includes:
    1. Housing and facilities used in connection therewith;
    2. Housing finance;
    3. The acquisition, construction, or equipping of a health facility;
    4. Any one or more buildings or structures to be used in the production, manufacturing, processing, assembling, storing, or handling of any agricultural, manufactured, mining, or industrial product or any combination of the foregoing, in every case with all necessary or useful furnishings, machinery, equipment, parking facilities, landscaping, and facilities for outdoor storage, all as determined by the authority, which determination shall be final and not subject to review; and there may be included as part of any such project all improvements necessary to the full utilization thereof, including site preparation, roads and streets, sidewalks, water supply, outdoor lighting, belt line railroad sidings and lead tracks, bridges, causeways, terminals for railroad, automotive, and air transportation, transportation facilities incidental to the project, and the dredging and improving of harbors and waterways, none of which foregoing descriptive words shall be construed to constitute a limitation, provided that none of the improvements described in this sentence shall be the primary purpose of any project;
    5. The acquisition, construction, leasing, or equipping of new industrial facilities or the improvement, modification, acquisition, expansion, modernization, leasing, equipping, or remodeling of existing industrial facilities;
    6. The acquisition, construction, improvement, or modification of any property, real or personal, used as air or water pollution control facilities which the authority has determined is necessary for the operation of the industry or industries which the same is to serve and which is necessary for the public welfare, provided that, for the purposes of this subparagraph, the term "air pollution control facility" means any property used, in whole or in substantial part, to abate or control atmospheric pollution or contamination by removing, altering, disposing of, or storing atmospheric pollutants or contaminants, if such facility is in furtherance of applicable federal, state, or local standards for abatement or control of atmospheric pollutants or contaminants; and provided, further, that, for the purpose of this subparagraph, the term "water pollution control facility" means any property used, in whole or in substantial part, to abate or control water pollution or contamination by removing, altering, disposing, or storing pollutants, contaminants, wastes, or heat, including the necessary intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, pumping, power, and other equipment, holding ponds, lagoons, and appurtenances thereto, if such facility is in the furtherance of applicable federal, state, or local standards for the abatement or control of water pollution or contamination;
    7. The acquisition, construction, improvement, or modification of any property, real or personal, used as or in connection with a sewage disposal facility or a solid waste disposal facility which the authority has determined is necessary for the operation of the industries which the same is to serve and which is necessary for the public welfare, provided that, for the purposes of this subparagraph, the term "sewage disposal facility" means any property used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of sewage; for the purposes of this subparagraph, the term "solid waste disposal facility" means any property used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of solid waste; for the purposes of this subparagraph, the term "solid waste" means garbage, refuse, or other discarded solid materials, including solid waste materials resulting from industrial and agricultural operations and from community activities but does not include solids or dissolved materials in domestic sewage or other significant pollutants in water resources, such as salt, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial waste-water effluents, and dissolved materials in irrigation return flows; and for the purposes of this subparagraph, the word "garbage" includes putrescible wastes, including animal and vegetable matters, animal offal and carcasses, and recognizable industrial by-products but excludes sewage and human wastes; and the word "refuse" includes all nonputrescible wastes;
    8. The acquisition, construction, leasing, or financing of:
       1. An office building facility and related real and personal property for use by the authority or by any business or charitable corporation, association, or similar entity which will further the development of trade, commerce, industry, or employment opportunities in this state and which shall be adjacent to or used in conjunction with any other existing or proposed project defined in this paragraph, which existing or proposed project is used or intended to be used by the authority or by such business or charitable corporation, association, or similar entity;
       2. A separate office building facility and related real and personal property for use by the authority or by any business or charitable corporation, association, or similar entity which will further the development of trade, commerce, industry, or employment opportunities in this state; or
       3. Any real or personal property to be used by a charitable corporation, association, or similar entity which will further the development of trade, commerce, industry, or employment opportunities in this state;
    9. The acquisition, construction, equipping, improvement, modification, or expansion of any property, real or personal, for use by an enterprise;
    10. The acquisition, construction, installation, modification, renovation, or rehabilitation of land, interest in land, buildings, structures, facilities, or other improvements and the acquisition, installation, modification, renovation, rehabilitation, or furnishing of fixtures, machinery, equipment, furniture, or other property of any nature whatsoever used on, in, or in connection with any such land, interest in land, building, structure, facility, or other improvement, all for the essential public purpose of the development of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities.A project may be for any industrial, commercial, business, office, parking, public, or other use, provided that a majority of the members of the authority determines, by a duly adopted resolution, that the project and such uses thereof would further the public purpose of this chapter;
    11. The acquisition, construction, improvement, modification, or expansion of a planned community development; and
    12. The financing for the provision of health care services.
13. "State" means the State of Georgia.

(Code 1981, §50-26-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1653, § 1-2; Ga. L. 1993, p. 738, §§ 2-8; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228.)