City of Bellingham Municipal Code

6.64.040 - LIMITATION OF POWERS

A public corporation, organized under this chapter, in all activities and transactions shall be limited in the following respects:

A. A public corporation shall have no power of eminent domain nor any power to levy taxes or special assessments.

B. A public corporation may not incur or create any liability that permits recourse by any contracting party or member of the public to any assets, services, resources, or credit of the City.

C. No funds, assets, or property of any public corporation shall be used for any partisan political activity or to further the election or defeat of any candidate for public office; nor shall any funds or a substantial part of the activities of any public corporation be used for publicity or educational purposes designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress of the United States, or the legislature of the State or the City Council; provided, however, that funds may be used for representatives of a public corporation to communicate with members of Congress, state legislators or City Council members concerning funding and other matters directly affecting the public corporation, so long as such activities do not constitute a substantial part of the corporation's activities and unless such activities are specifically limited in its charter.

D. All funds, assets, or credit of the public corporation shall be applied toward or expended upon services, projects, and activities authorized by its charter. No part of the net earnings of a public corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable as such to, the board members, officers of a public corporation or other private persons, except that a public corporation is authorized and empowered to:

1. Compensate corporate officials and others performing services for the public corporation a reasonable amount for services rendered, and reimburse reasonable expenses actually incurred in performing their duties;

2. Assist corporate officials as members of a general class of persons to be assisted by a corporate-approved project or activity to the same extent as other members of the class as long as no special privileges or treatment accrues to such corporate official by reason of his or her status or position in the public corporation;

3. Defend and indemnify any current or former board member or employee and their successors against all costs, expenses, judgments, and liabilities, including attorneys' fees, reasonably incurred by or imposed upon him or her in connection with or resulting from any claim, action, or proceeding, civil or criminal, in which he or she is or may be made a party by reason of being or having been a corporate official, or by reason of any action alleged to have been taken or omitted by him or her as such official, provided that he or she was acting in good faith on behalf of the public corporation and within the scope of duties imposed or authorized by law. This power of indemnification shall not be exclusive of other rights to which corporate officials may be entitled as a matter of law;

4. Purchase insurance to protect and hold personally harmless any of its officials (including its employees and agents) from any action, claim, or proceeding instituted against the foregoing individuals arising out of the performance, in good faith, of duties for, or employment with, the public corporation and to hold these individuals harmless from any expenses connected with the defense, settlement, or monetary judgments from such actions, claims, or proceedings. The purchase of such insurance and its policy limits shall be discretionary with the board, and such insurance shall not be considered to be compensation to the insured individuals. The powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exclusive of any other powers conferred by law to purchase liability insurance; and

5. Sell assets for a consideration greater than their reasonable market value or acquisition costs, charge more for services than the expense of providing them, or otherwise secure an increment in a transaction, or carry out any other transaction or activity, as long as such gain is not the object or purpose of the public corporation's transactions or activities and is applied to or expended upon services, projects, and activities as aforesaid.