The authority gets tax and regulatory exemptions, but it must still undergo an annual audit and publish an annual financial statement with specified revenue, expenditure, and contract information.
§1663. Tax and regulatory exemptions, audits, reports A. As the exercise of the powers granted hereby will be in all respects for the benefit of the people of the state, for the increase of their commerce and prosperity, the authority shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments upon any property acquired or used by it under the provisions of this Chapter, or upon the income therefrom, all of which shall be exempt from taxation of any type by the state of Louisiana and by any parish, municipality, or political subdivision of this state. In the event of any lease of authority property, or any other arrangement which amounts to a leasehold interest, to a private party, this exemption shall not apply to the value of such leasehold interest or to the income of the lessee. Otherwise, however, and for purposes of taxation, when property of the authority is leased to private parties to be employed solely for purposes of the authority, the acts and activities of the lessee shall be considered as the acts and activities of the authority, and the exemption hereunder shall apply to such acts and activities. B. Except as provided herein, the authority shall not be subject in any respect to the authority, control, or supervision of any regulatory body of the state, including but not limited to the Public Service Commission, or any political subdivision of the state, but its books and records shall be subject to audit annually by the legislative auditor. C. Following the annual audit herein provided for, the authority shall publish an annual financial statement in a daily newspaper of general circulation, which shall set forth in each parish in which the authority operates, any tax revenue and operating revenue received, as well as the total expenditures made, and also a list of all written contracts entered into by the authority during the preceding year which call for the authority to expend at any time, in the aggregate, more than fifty thousand dollars. Such list also shall include any employment or consultant contracts, whether or not written, under which the employee or consultant is to be compensated at an annual rate of more than twenty thousand dollars, including direct and indirect or deferred benefits. Added by Acts 1979, No. 439, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 1979.