Sets the steps the parish governing authority must follow to create a consolidated road district and issue its bonds.
§591. Procedure for creating consolidated road district The procedure to create a consolidated road district is as follows: The parish governing authority shall pass an ordinance or resolution which shall specify (but need not describe) the existing districts to be included in the consolidated road district and their respective indebtedness, both bonded and floating. It shall declare that it is advisable to consolidate the roads of the several districts, and any unorganized road territory existing in the parish, into a consolidated road system; and shall make an estimate of the amount of new money presently needed to enlarge and extend the district system or systems. However, the amount of new money, when added to the aggregate of the bonded and floating debt of the road districts included in the consolidated district, shall not exceed ten per cent of the assessed valuation of the consolidated road district. This ordinance shall be published once in the official journal of the parish. Not less than ten days after the publication of the ordinance, the parish governing authority shall call an election in the consolidated district. This election shall be called, proclaimed, held, and promulgated in all particulars as near as may be in the manner prescribed by the general laws in relation to incurring debt and issuing bonds. At this election there shall be submitted the question of the issuance of consolidated road district bonds: (1) in a specified sum, which shall be the aggregate of the districts' debt and the new money as declared in the ordinance or resolution; (2) bearing interest at a specified rate which is not more than the highest rate which any road bonds of any of the road districts bear, (3) payable annually or semi-annually as the parish governing authority decides, and (4) maturing not more than forty years after the date of the issuance thereof, for the purpose of acquiring and constructing roads the title to which shall vest in the consolidated road district. If a majority in number and amount of the qualified property taxpayers who vote at the election vote in favor of the bonds, the parish governing authority shall promulgate and publish the result of the election and shall thereupon adopt and have published in the official journal two ordinances: the first declaring that the consolidated road district has been created and the second providing for the issuance of consolidated road district bonds.