Powers of the District Farm Credit Board.—

Sec. 5.6. Powers of the District Farm Credit Board.— (a) Each farm credit district board shall have power to— (1) Act as the board of directors for the district and of the several banks of the System in the district. (2) Provide rules and regulations, governing the banks and associations in the district, not inconsistent with law. (3) Elect or provide for joint officers and employees for the banks in its district which are institutions of the System or, upon agreement with banks in other districts, joint officers and employees of institutions in more than one district. The salary or other compensation of all such joint officers and employees and the allocation thereof between the banks shall be fixed by the district farm credit board. Officers and employees elected or provided for by the district farm credit board, whether separate officers and employees of the institutions or joint officers and employees, shall be officers and employees of the district institutions served by them. Employment, compensation, leave, retirement, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, hours of duty, and all other conditions of employment of such joint officers and employees and of the separate officers and employees of the institutions in the district provided for by the board of directors shall be without regard to the provisions of title 5 of the United States Code relating to such matters, but all such determinations shall be consistent with the law under which the banks are organized and operate. Appointments, promotions, and separations so made shall be based on merit and efficiency and no political test or qualification shall be permitted or given consideration. The limitations against political activity and conflict of interest of such officers and employees shall be in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Farm Credit Administration. (4) Authorize the acquisition and disposal of such property, real or personal, as may be necessary or convenient for the transaction of the business of the banks of the System located in its district, upon such terms and conditions as it shall fix, and to prorate among such banks the cost of purchases, rentals, construction, repairs, alterations, maintenance, and operation in such amounts and in such manner as it shall determine. Any lease, or any contract for the purchase or sale of property, or any deed or conveyance of property, or any contract for the construction, repair, or alteration of buildings, authorized by a district farm credit board under this subsection shall be executed by the officers of the bank or banks concerned pursuant to the direction of such board. No provision of law relative to the acquisition or disposal of property, real or personal, by or for the United States, or relative to the making of contracts or leases by or for the United States, including the provisions set out in titles 40 and 41, and including provisions applicable to corporations wholly owned by the United States, shall be deemed or held applicable to any lease, purchase, sale, deed, conveyance, or contract authorized or made by a district farm credit board or the banks of the System under this subsection. 85 Stat. 617 (5) Authorize agreements for the provision of joint services between institutions in the System and between districts for those banks’ and associations’ functions and for those services to borrowers which can most effectively be performed by the joint undertakings of the district or districts, all of such activities to be subject to the same supervision of the Farm Credit Administration as is applicable to such institutions under this Act. (6) Formulate broad policy considerations concerning the funding operations of the banks in the district and, in concert with the other district boards, furnish unified long-range policy guidance for the funding of the System. (b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section are qualified as follows: (1) Each officer and employee of the banks of the System who, on December 31, 1959, was within the purview of the Civil Service Retirement Act, as amended, shall continue so during his continuance as an officer or employee of any such banks or of the Farm Credit Administration without break in continuity of service. Any other officer or employee of such banks and any other person entering upon employment with any such banks after December 31, 1959, shall not be covered under the civil service retirement system by reason of such employment, except that (1) a person who, on December 31, 1959, was within the purview of the Civil Service Retirement Act, as amended, and thereafter becomes an officer or employee of any such banks without break in continuity of service shall continue under the civil service retirement system during his continuance as an officer or employee of any such banks without break in continuity of service and (2) a person who has been within the purview of said Act as an officer or employee of such banks and, after a break in such employment, again becomes an officer or employee of any of such banks may elect to continue under the civil service retirement system during his continuance as such officer or employee by so notifying the Civil Service Commission in writing within thirty days after such reemployment. (2) Each of the banks of the System shall contribute to the civil service retirement and disability fund, for each fiscal year after June 30, 1960, a sum as provided by section 4(a) of the Civil Service Retirement Act, as amended, except that such sum shall be determined by applying to the total basic salaries (as defined in that Act) paid to the employees of said banks who are covered by that Act, the per centum rate determined annually by the United States Civil Service Commission to be the excess of the total normal cost per centum rate of the civil service retirement system over the employee deduction rate specified in such section 4(a). Each bank shall also pay into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts such portion of the cost of administration of the fund as is determined by the United States Civil Service Commission to be attributable to its employees.