N.D. Cent. Code § 40-58-07 (2026)

A municipality has all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including the power: 1. To authorize or undertake and carry out development or renewal projects within its area of operation; to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers under this chapter; and to disseminate industrial or commercial development, slum clearance, and urban renewal information. 2. To provide, 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 development or renewal project; to install, construct, and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other public improvements; and to agree to any conditions that it may deem reasonable and appropriate attached to federal financial assistance and imposed pursuant to federal law relating to the determination of prevailing salaries or wages or compliance with labor standards, in the undertaking or carrying out of a development or renewal project, and to include in any contract let in connection with the project, provisions to fulfill those conditions as it may deem reasonable and appropriate.

3. Within its area of operation, to enter upon any building or property in any development or renewal area in order to make surveys, appraisals, soundings, or test borings, and to obtain an order for this purpose from a court of competent jurisdiction in the event entry is denied or resisted; to acquire by purchase, lease, option, gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise, any real property or personal property for its administrative purposes together with any property improvements; to hold, improve, clear, or prepare \n Page No. 5 for development or redevelopment any such property; to mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber or dispose of any real property; to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or personal property or operations of the municipality against any risks or hazards, including the power to pay premiums for the insurance; and to enter into any contracts necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter; provided, however, that no statutory provision with respect to the acquisition, clearance, or disposition of property by public bodies restricts a municipality or other public body exercising powers under this subsection, in the exercise of those functions with respect to a development or renewal project, unless the legislative assembly shall specifically so state. 4. To invest development or renewal project funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or any of those funds not required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest funds subject to their control; to redeem bonds issued pursuant to section 40-58-10 at the established redemption price or to purchase bonds at less than redemption price, all bonds so redeemed or purchased to be canceled. 5. To borrow money and to apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions, and any other form of financial assistance from the federal government, the state, county, or other public body, or from any sources, public or private, for the purposes of this chapter, and to give such security as may be required and to enter into and carry out contracts in connection therewith. A municipality may include in any contract for financial assistance with the federal government for a development or renewal project any conditions imposed pursuant to federal law as the municipality may deem reasonable and appropriate and which are not inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter.

6. Within its area of operation, to make or cause to have made all plans necessary to the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter and to contract with any person, public or private, in making and carrying out those plans and to adopt or approve, modify, and amend those plans. The plans may include:

a. A general plan for the locality as a whole.

b. Development or renewal plans.

c. Plans for carrying out a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements.

d. Plans for the enforcement of state and local laws, codes, and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and improvements.

e. Appraisals, title searches, surveys, studies, and other preliminary plans and work necessary to prepare for the undertaking of development or renewal projects. The municipality may develop, test, and report methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other activities, for the prevention and the elimination of slums and urban blight, and to apply for, accept, and utilize grants of funds from the federal government for such purposes. 7. To prepare plans and provide reasonable assistance for the relocation of families displaced from a development or renewal area. 8. To appropriate funds and make expenditures that are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and to levy taxes within the limitations of the capital improvements fund under section 57-15-38 and to levy assessments for those purposes; to close, vacate, plan, or replan streets, roads, sidewalks, ways, or other places; to plan or replan or zone or rezone any part of the municipality or make exceptions from building regulations; and to enter into agreements with a housing authority or an urban renewal agency vested with urban renewal project powers under section 40-58-15, which agreements may extend over any period, notwithstanding any provision or rule of law to the contrary, respecting action to be taken by the municipality pursuant to any of the powers granted by this chapter.\n\n Page No. 6

9. Within its area of operation, to organize, coordinate, and direct the administration of this chapter as those provisions apply to the municipality in order that the objectives of remedying slum and blighted areas and preventing the causes of those areas and facilitating the development of industrial or commercial properties within the municipality may be most effectively promoted and achieved, and to establish new offices of the municipality or to reorganize existing offices in order to carry out that purpose most effectively. 10. To exercise all or any part or combination of the powers granted by this section. \n 40-58-08. Eminent domain. Repealed by S.L. 2007, ch. 293, § 46. \n 40-58-09. Disposal of property in development or renewal area.

1. A municipality may sell, lease, or otherwise transfer real property or any interest in real property acquired by it, and may enter into contracts with respect to the real property, in a development or renewal area for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, or other uses or for public use, or may retain the property or interest for public use, in accordance with the development or renewal plan, subject to such covenants, conditions, and restrictions, including covenants running with the land, as it may deem to be necessary or desirable to assist in preventing the development or spread of future slums or blighted areas, to facilitate the development of industrial or commercial properties, or to otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter; provided, that the sale, lease, other transfer, or retention, and any agreement relating thereto, may be made only after the approval of the development or renewal plan by the governing body. The purchasers or lessees and their successors and assigns must be obligated to devote the real property only to the uses specified in the development or renewal plan, and may be obligated to comply with any other requirements that the municipality determines are in the public interest, including the obligation to begin within a reasonable time any improvements on the real property required by the development or renewal plan. The real property or interest must be sold, leased, otherwise transferred, or retained at not less than its fair value for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan. In determining the fair value of real property for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan, a municipality shall take into account and give consideration to the uses provided in the plan; the restrictions upon, and the covenants, conditions, and obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee or by the municipality retaining the property; and the objectives of the plan for the development of industrial or commercial properties and the prevention of the recurrence of slum or blighted areas. The municipality in any instrument of conveyance to a private purchaser or lessee may provide that the purchaser or lessee may not sell, lease, or otherwise transfer the real property without the prior written consent of the municipality until the purchaser or lessee has completed the construction of any and all improvements which the purchaser or lessee is obligated to construct on the real property. Real property acquired by a municipality which, in accordance with the provisions of the development or renewal plan, is to be transferred, must be transferred as rapidly as feasible in the public interest consistent with the carrying out of the provisions of the development or renewal plan. The inclusion in any contract or conveyance to a purchaser or lessee of any such covenants, restrictions, or conditions, including the incorporation by reference of the provisions of a development or renewal plan or any part of the plan, does not prevent the filing of the contract or conveyance in the land records of the recorder in a manner that affords actual or constructive notice of the contract or conveyance.

2. A municipality may dispose of real property in a development or renewal area to private persons in a manner that appropriately carries out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. Thereafter, the municipality may execute the contract in accordance with the provisions of subsection 1 and deliver deeds, leases, and other instruments and take all steps necessary to effectuate the contract. \n Page No. 7

3. A municipality may temporarily operate and maintain real property acquired in a development or renewal area pending the disposition of the property for development or redevelopment, without regard to the provisions of subsection 1, for any uses and purposes as may be deemed desirable even though not in conformity with the development or renewal plan. \n 40-58-10. Issuance of bonds.

1. A municipality may issue bonds from time to time in its discretion to finance the undertaking of any development or renewal project, including the payment of principal and interest upon any advances for surveys and plans for development or renewal projects, and may issue refunding bonds for the payment or retirement of bonds previously issued by it. The bonds must be made payable, as to both principal and interest, solely from the income, proceeds, revenues, and funds of the municipality derived from or held in connection with its undertaking and carrying out of development or renewal projects; provided, however, that the payment of bonds, both as to principal and interest, may be further secured by a pledge of any loan, grant, or contribution from the federal government or other source, in aid of any development or renewal projects of the municipality, and by a mortgage of all or any part of a development or renewal project, title to which is in the municipality.

2. Bonds issued under this section do not constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory debt limitation or restriction, and are not subject to any other law or charter relating to the authorization, issuance, or sale of bonds. Bonds issued under this chapter are declared to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and, together with interest and income, are exempt from all taxation.

3. Bonds issued under this section must be authorized by resolution or ordinance of the governing body and may be issued in one or more series and must bear such date or dates, be payable upon demand or mature at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates, resulting in an average annual net interest cost not exceeding twelve per centum per annum on those issues which are sold at private sale. The bonds must be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or registered, carry such conversion or registration privileges, have such rank or priority, be executed in such manner, be payable in such medium of payment, at such places, and be subject to such terms of redemption with or without premium, be secured in such manner, and have such other characteristics, as may be provided by the resolution or trust indenture or mortgage issued pursuant to the resolution.

4. The bonds may be sold at not less than par at public sales held after notice published prior to the sale in a newspaper having a general circulation in the area of operation and in any other medium of publication as the municipality may determine or may be exchanged for other bonds on the basis of par; provided, that the bonds may be sold to the federal government at private sale at not less than par, and, in the event less than all of the authorized principal amount of the bonds is sold to the federal government, the balance may be sold at private sale at not less than par at an interest cost to the municipality of not to exceed the interest cost to the municipality of the portion of the bonds sold to the federal government. The bonds may also be sold at private sale if the obligations do not exceed the total sum of one hundred thousand dollars. There is no interest rate ceiling on issues sold at public sale or to the state of North Dakota or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.

5. If a public official of the municipality whose signature appears on any bonds or coupons issued under this chapter ceases to be a public official before the delivery of the bonds, the signature is, nevertheless, valid and sufficient for all purposes, as if the official had remained in office until the delivery. Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds issued pursuant to this chapter are fully negotiable.

6. In any suit, action, or proceeding involving the validity or enforceability of any bond issued under this chapter or the security for the bond, any bond reciting in substance that it has been issued by the municipality in connection with a development or \n Page No. 8 renewal project is conclusively deemed to have been issued for that purpose and the project is conclusively deemed to have been planned, located, and carried out in accordance with this chapter. \n 40-58-11. Bonds as legal investments. All banks, trust companies, bankers, savings banks and institutions, savings and loan associations, investment companies, and other persons carrying on a banking or investment business and all executors, administrators, curators, trustees, and other fiduciaries may legally invest any sinking funds, moneys, or other funds belonging to them or within their control in any bonds or other obligations issued by a municipality pursuant to this chapter or by any urban renewal agency or housing authority vested with urban renewal project powers under section 40-58-15. However, the bonds and other obligations must be secured by an agreement between the issuer and the federal government in which the issuer agrees to borrow from the federal government and the federal government agrees to lend to the issuer, prior to the maturity of the bonds or other obligations, moneys in an amount which together with any other moneys irrevocably committed to the payment of interest on the bonds or other obligations will suffice to pay the principal of such bonds or other obligations with interest to maturity thereon, which moneys under the terms of the agreement are required to be used for the purpose of paying the principal of and the interest on the bonds or other obligations at their maturity. The bonds and other obligations are authorized security for all public deposits. This section does not relieve any person of any duty of exercising reasonable care in selecting securities. \n 40-58-12. Property exempt from taxes and from levy and sale by virtue of an execution.

1. All property of a municipality, including funds, owned or held by it for the purposes of this chapter is exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution, and no execution or other judicial process may issue against the same nor may judgment against a municipality be a charge or lien upon the property; provided, however, that the provisions of this section do not apply to or limit the right of obligees to pursue any remedies for the enforcement of any pledge or lien given pursuant to this chapter by a municipality on its rents, fees, grants, or revenues from development or renewal projects.

2. The property of a municipality, acquired or held for the purposes of this chapter, is declared to be public property used for essential public and governmental purposes and the property is exempt from all taxes of the municipality, the county, the state, or any political subdivision of the state; provided, that this tax exemption terminates when the municipality sells, leases, or otherwise disposes of the property in a development or renewal area to a purchaser or lessee which is not a public body entitled to tax exemption with respect to the property. \n