The authority shall have the following powers among others specified in this article:

(1) To have succession by its corporate name until dissolved as provided in this article;

(2) To sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend, at law or in equity, in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties thereto;

(3) To have and to use a corporate seal and to alter the same at pleasure;

(4) To make and alter all needful bylaws, rules and regulations for the transaction of the authority's business and the control of its property and affairs;

(5) To provide for the acquisition, construction, installation, equipping, operation and maintenance of mental health facilities, including the equipping and improvement of existing mental health facilities;

(6) To receive, take and hold by sale, gift, lease, devise or otherwise, real and personal property of every description, and to manage the same;

(7) To acquire by purchase, gift, or any other lawful means, and to transfer, convey or cause to be conveyed to the state, any real, personal or mixed property;

(8) To borrow money and issue its bonds in evidence thereof subject to the provisions of this article;

(9) To anticipate by the issuance of its bonds the receipt of the revenues herein appropriated and pledged, all in the manner hereinafter provided;

(10) As security for payment of the principal of and the interest on its bonds, to pledge the proceeds of the appropriation and pledge herein provided for and any funds or revenues from which its bonds may be made payable and to arrange for and provide such additional security for its bonds, including letters of credit, bond insurance policies, surety bonds, all as the board of directors shall determine to be necessary or desirable;

(11) To make and enter into such contracts, leases, agreements and other actions as may be necessary or desirable to accomplish any corporate purpose and to exercise any power necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes of the authority or incidental to the powers expressly set out herein;

(12) To appoint and employ such attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, underwriters, trustees, depositories, registrars, fiscal agents and other advisors, agents and independent contractors as may, in the judgment of the directors, be necessary or desirable; provided that in selecting and engaging the services of such attorneys (including, without limitation, bond counsel and counsel to the authority), accountants, financial advisors, underwriters and other advisors, agents or contractors, whether in connection with an issue or series of bonds or any ongoing matters of the authority, the authority shall in every case request proposals from qualified parties offering such services by publishing a request for proposals once a week for two consecutive weeks in newspapers published or having a general circulation in the Cities of Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Mobile, shall fully and fairly review all of such proposals, and shall award such engagement to the proposing party in each case whose proposal is most advantageous to the state; and

(13) To enter into any necessary financial instruments, or obligations, or both, of the Retirement Systems of Alabama in order to provide financing for projects of the authority; provided further that principal and interest payments on any such instrument or obligation shall be payable solely from such funds as may from time to time be appropriated for the use and support of the Department of Mental Health, including the taxes appropriated and pledged in Section 41-10-365; provided further that any short-term securities developed between said authority and the Retirement Systems of Alabama for construction purposes shall bear an interest rate equal to other commercial paper purchases of the retirement system and further any intermediate or long-term securities shall bear an interest rate equal to or greater than the actuarial interest rate assumption and not less than 50 basis points above comparable U.S. Treasury Bonds. Fifty percent of all funds expended for facilities provided for by the Alabama Mental Health Finance Authority, under the provisions of this article, inclusive of any and all amendments to such article, shall be designated for community facilities as defined within the article.