Funding to municipalities for development projects; criteria for project funding; prohibited uses

(1) The Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority may provide financial or other assistance to a municipality for a development project. (2) The project must be municipally owned and operated either by the municipality or under a management contract or an operating agreement with the municipality. If the project consists: (a) Solely of the purchase or acquisition of land by the municipality, the land must be identified in the applicable land use or capital plan as necessary for a potential development project or be zoned solely for commercial or industrial use. (b) Of a privately owned railroad, the railroad must be designated by the owner and operator as subject to abandonment within three years, pursuant to federal law governing abandonment of common carrier railroad lines. (c) Of a telecommunications system, the governing body of the municipality shall adopt a resolution, after a public hearing, finding that the proposed telecommunications system project is necessary and would not otherwise be provided by a for-profit entity within a reasonable time and for a reasonable cost. (3) If the project is an energy system, the municipality and the serving utility must execute an ownership and operating agreement for the proposed energy system. This subsection does not apply when the energy system will be located within the recognized service territory of the municipality. (4) The authority may not use funds to provide assistance for: (a) Projects that primarily focus on relocating business or economic activity from one part of the state to another, except in cases where the business or economic activity would otherwise locate outside of Oregon; or (b) Ongoing operations or maintenance expenses.