(a) It is hereby found that:

(1) There exist in many municipalities and counties blighted and deteriorated properties in neighborhoods which cause the deterioration of those and contiguous neighborhoods and constitute a serious and growing menace which is injurious to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the residents of Tennessee, and are beyond remedy and control solely by regulatory process in the exercise of the police power;

(2) The existence of blighted and deteriorated properties, both residential and commercial, within neighborhoods, and the growth and spread of blight and deterioration or the threatened deterioration of other neighborhoods and properties:

(A) Contribute substantially and increasingly to the spread of disease and crime, and to losses by fire and accident;

(B) Necessitate expensive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for the preservation of the public health and safety, for crime prevention, correction, prosecution, and punishment, for the treatment of juvenile delinquency, for the maintenance of adequate police, fire and accident protection, and for other public services and facilities;

(C) Constitute an economic and social liability;

(D) Substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of the community;

(E) Retard the provision of decent, safe and sanitary housing and public accommodations;

(F) Depreciate assessable values;

(G) Cause an abnormal exodus of families and businesses from these neighborhoods; and

(H) Are detrimental to the health, the well-being and the dignity of many residents of these neighborhoods;

(3) This menace cannot be effectively dealt with by private enterprise without the aids provided herein; and

(4) The benefits which would result from eliminating the blighted properties that cause the blight and deterioration of neighborhoods will accrue to the inhabitants of the neighborhoods in which these conditions exist and to the inhabitants of this state generally.

(b) It is hereby declared that:

(1) It is the policy of this state to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state by eliminating the blight and deterioration of neighborhoods through the elimination of blighted and deteriorated properties within these neighborhoods;

(2) The elimination of such blight and deterioration and the preparation of the properties for sale or lease, for development or redevelopment, constitute a public use and purpose for which public money may be expended and private property acquired, and are governmental functions in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of Tennessee; and

(3) The necessity in the public interest for the provisions enacted herein is hereby declared to be a legislative determination.