RS 33:2740.70.4

§2740.70.4. North Lake Charles Economic Development District A.(1) There is hereby created in the city of Lake Charles a body politic and corporate which shall be known as the North Lake Charles Economic Development District, referred to in this Section as the "district". (2) The district shall be a special district created pursuant to Article VI, Section 19 of the Constitution of Louisiana and political subdivision of the state as defined in Article VI, Section 44 of the Constitution of Louisiana. The district, acting through its governing board, is hereby granted all of the rights, powers, privileges, and immunities accorded by the laws and the Constitution of Louisiana to political subdivisions of the state, subject to the limitations provided in this Section. B. The boundaries of the district shall encompass all of the territory included within the following perimeter: Commencing at the point where Kayouche Coulee intersects with English Bayou thence westward along the southern banks of the English Bayou until the English Bayou intersects with the Calcasieu River westward along the southern banks of Calcasieu River to a point on Calcasieu River southern banks where if Kirkman St. were extended northward it would intersect with Calcasieu River thence southward along Kirkman Street to 12th Street thence east along 12th Street to a point where if 12th Street were extended eastward it would intersect with Kayouche Coulee thence northward along Kayouche Coulee to Opelousas Street thence eastward on Opelousas Street to Goodman Road thence northward along Goodman Road to a point where if Goodman Road were extended northward it would intersect with English Bayou thence to the point of commencement. C.(1) The district shall be governed by a five-member board of commissioners, referred to in this Section as the "board". The board shall provide for the orderly planning, development, acquisition, construction, and effectuation of the services, improvements, and facilities to be furnished by the district, to provide for the representation in the affairs of the district of those persons and interests immediately concerned with and affected by the purposes and development of the district, and shall exercise other powers, duties, and functions as provided in this Section. (2) The members of the board shall be residents and qualified voters of the district. The board membership shall be reflective of the city's diverse population. The five members shall be appointed as follows: (a) The Lake Charles City Council shall appoint one member. (b) The state representative for the House of Representatives district which encompasses all or the greater portion of the area of the district shall appoint one member. (c) The state senator for the Senate district which encompasses all or the greater portion of the area of the district shall appoint one member. (d) The governing authority of Calcasieu Parish shall appoint one member from a list of three names submitted jointly by the members of the governing authority who represent District Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 9. (e) The mayor of the city of Lake Charles shall appoint one member, subject to the approval of the governing authority of the city. (3)(a) Members shall serve three-year terms after serving initial terms as provided in this Subparagraph. Two members shall serve three-year initial terms, two members shall serve two-year initial terms, and one member shall serve a one-year initial term as determined by lot at the first meeting of the board. (b) Any vacancy which occurs prior to the expiration of the term for which a member of the board has been appointed shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointment for the unexpired term. D.(1) As soon as practical after appointment of all members, the board shall meet. The board shall elect from its number a chairman, a vice chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and other officers as it may deem appropriate. (2) The minute books and archives of the board shall be maintained by the board's secretary with the help and assistance of and through the council's office. The monies, funds, and accounts of the district in the official custody and control of the board's treasurer shall be deposited, expended, and accounted for, records maintained, and idle funds invested through the department of administration, under the director of administration, and checks issued through the department as in the case of city monies under the plan of government. (3) The duties of the officers shall be fixed by bylaws adopted by the board. The board shall adopt rules and regulations as it deems necessary or advisable for conducting its business and affairs and, to the extent that funds are available, shall hire assistants and employees as needed to assist the board in the performance of its duties. It shall hold regular meetings as shall be provided in the bylaws and may hold special meetings at the time and places within or without the district as may be prescribed in the bylaws. (4) A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The board shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall make them available to the public in conformance with law. (5) The members of the board shall serve without compensation; however, they shall receive a travel allowance as reimbursement for expenses incurred while attending to the business of the board or the district. E.(1) The board shall prepare or cause to be prepared a plan or plans specifying the public improvements, facilities, and services proposed to be furnished, constructed, or acquired for the district and shall conduct public hearings, publish notice with respect thereto, and disseminate information as it, in the exercise of its sound discretion, may deem to be appropriate or advisable and in the public interest. (2) Any plan may specify and encompass any public services, capital improvements, and facilities which the city of Lake Charles is authorized to undertake, furnish, or provide under the constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, and the specified public services, improvements, and facilities shall be special and in addition to all services, improvements, and facilities which the city of Lake Charles is then furnishing or providing or may then or in the future be obligated to furnish or provide within the district. (3) Any plan shall include an estimate of the annual and total cost of acquiring, constructing, or providing the services, improvements, or facilities set forth therein. (4) The board shall also submit the plan to the city planning commission. The planning commission shall review the plan and determine whether it is consistent with the comprehensive plan for the city of Lake Charles. The planning commission, within thirty days following receipt of the plan, shall submit to the Lake Charles City Council its written opinion as to whether the plan or any portion or detail thereof is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan for the city, together with its written comments and recommendations with respect thereto. (5) After receipt of the plan together with the written comments and recommendations of the city planning commission, the Lake Charles City Council shall review and consider the plan together with the written comments and recommendations. The Lake Charles City Council, within thirty days following the receipt of the plan, shall submit a written recommendation to the board as to whether the board should approve the plan. After receipt of the written recommendation, the board shall review and consider the recommendation. The board may adopt or reject the recommendation. F.(1)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection E of this Section, the board may prepare and submit directly to the Lake Charles City Council a plan or plans setting forth its intention to employ professional consultants, experts, and other advisors and personnel as it deems necessary or convenient to assist in the preparation of a plan or plans for the orderly and efficient development of services and improvements within the district. (b) The plan shall specify the services proposed to be rendered by the employees, an estimate of the aggregate of the proposed salaries of the employees, and an estimate of the other expenses of the board required for the preparation of the plan or plans. (2) The Lake Charles City Council shall review and consider the plan. The Lake Charles City Council, within thirty days following the receipt of the plan, shall submit a written recommendation to the board as to whether the board should approve the plan. After receipt of the written recommendation, the board shall review and consider the recommendation. The board may adopt or reject the recommendation. G.(1) All services to be furnished within the district pursuant to any plan finally and conclusively adopted may be furnished, supplied, and administered by the city through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities, subject to the approval of the Lake Charles City Council. All capital improvements and facilities to be acquired, constructed, or provided within the district, whether from the proceeds of bonds or otherwise, may likewise be so acquired, constructed, or provided by the city through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities, subject to the approval of the Lake Charles City Council, it being the intention hereof to avoid the duplication of administrative and management efforts and expense in the implementation of any plan adopted for the benefit of the district. (2) In order to provide the services and provide, construct, or acquire the capital improvements or facilities, the board may enter into intergovernmental local service contracts with the city. H. The district may acquire, lease, insure, and sell immovable property within its boundaries in accordance with its plans. I. The district, acting by and through its board of commissioners, shall have and exercise all powers of a political subdivision necessary or convenient for the carrying out of its objects and purposes, including but not limited to rights and powers set out in this Subsection: (1) To sue and be sued. (2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal. (3) To acquire by gift, grant, purchase, or lease all property, including servitudes or rights of way; to hold and use any franchise or property, immovable, movable, or mixed, corporeal or incorporeal, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable for carrying out the objectives and purposes of the district, including but not limited to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of industrial or commercial parks. (4) To receive by gift, grant, or donation any sum of money or property, aid, or assistance from the United States, the state of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, or any person, firm, or corporation. (5) To enter into contracts for the purchase, acquisition, construction, maintenance, and improvement of works and facilities necessary in connection with the purposes of the district. (6) To regulate the imposition of fees and rentals charged by the district for its facilities and for services rendered by it. (7) To mortgage properties constructed or acquired and to borrow money and pledge all or part of its revenues, leases, rents, or other advantages as security for the loans. (8) To sell immovable property owned by the commission after legal notice as provided by law for the judicial sale of immovable property. (9) To appoint officers, agents, and employees; prescribe their duties; and fix their compensation. (10) To contract, upon such terms as it may agree upon, for legal, financial, engineering, and other professional services necessary or expedient in the conduct of its affairs. (11) To utilize the services of the executive departments of the state upon mutually agreeable terms and conditions. (12) To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business. (13) To do any and all things necessary or proper for the government, regulation, development, and control of the business of the board of commissioners. (14) The district shall have no power of expropriation. J.(1) In addition to the authority provided to the district by this Section, the district may levy and collect a sales and use tax within the boundaries of the district not to exceed one percent. (2) The tax shall be imposed by resolution of the board and shall be levied upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, the distribution, and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and upon the sales of services within the boundaries of the district, all as defined in R.S. 47:301 et seq. However, the resolution imposing the tax shall be adopted only after the proposed tax is approved by the Lake Charles City Council and by a majority of the qualified electors voting on the proposition at an election held for that purpose and conducted in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and held on a date that corresponds with an election date provided by R.S. 18:402(A)(1) or (B)(1). The purpose and rate of the tax shall be as provided in the resolution. (3) Except where inapplicable, the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 et seq. shall be followed in the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax, and procedural details necessary to supplement those Sections and to make them applicable to the tax authorized in this Subsection shall be fixed in the resolution imposing the tax. (4) The tax shall be imposed and collected uniformly throughout the jurisdiction of the district. (5) The tax levied pursuant to this Subsection shall be in addition to all other taxes other political subdivisions within the jurisdiction of the district are authorized to levy and collect. (6) The district shall have no other power of taxation, except as provided in this Subsection. K.(1)(a) In addition to any authority provided to the district by this Section, the district shall have the authority provided to an economic development district by Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title to implement tax increment financing and may issue revenue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of up to the full amount of tax increments available to an economic development district as provided in this Section and in such Part to be derived from any project or projects of the district as provided for in this Section, or parts of the projects, in an amount to be determined as provided for in this Section, in order to finance or refinance any project or projects, or parts thereof, which are consistent with the purposes of the district. (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any portion of the tax of any local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body may be used as a tax increment for tax increment finance purposes only with the consent of the local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body expressed by ordinance or resolution and upon approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the city of Lake Charles voting at an election held for that purpose and conducted in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and held on a date that corresponds with an election date provided by R.S. 18:402(A)(1) or (B)(1). (2) For purposes of the tax increment financing authority derived from Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title which is conferred upon the district by this Section, and only for purposes of this Section, "local governmental subdivision" as defined in such Part shall include the parish of Calcasieu and all political subdivisions within the parish. (3) For purposes of this Section, a tax increment shall consist of that portion of any tax, excluding a hotel occupancy tax, levied within the district by a local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body determined and pledged in the manner provided for in Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title. However, if the proceeds of any tax have been expressly dedicated to another purpose set forth in a proposition approved by the electorate of the local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body, then the tax proceeds shall not be used as a tax increment until a proposition which authorizes the use is submitted to and approved by the electorate. (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the district shall not levy a hotel occupancy tax within the boundaries of the district. In addition, the district shall not issue revenue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of hotel occupancy tax increments. L. The district shall dissolve and cease to exist one year after the date that all bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the district, including refunding bonds, are paid in full as to both principal and interest; however, in no event shall the district have an existence of less than three years from August 1, 2023. M. This Section, being necessary for the welfare of the city and its residents, shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof. Acts 2023, No. 306, §1.