The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
Gallot (SB 678)
Enacts the "Louisiana Economic Development District Act."
Creates in the city of New Orleans, the Economic Development District, comprised of all the
property within Orleans Parish.
Provides that the district is political subdivision and granted all of the rights, powers, privileges
and immunities accorded by law and the constitution to political subdivisions, subject to the
limitations provided in proposed law.
Provides that the district is created to provide for cooperative economic and community
development among the district, the city, the state and the owners of property in the
district, to enhance the development of and improvement to the property within the
area of the district, and to expand the entertainment and leisure activities within the
district.
Provides that in order to provide for the orderly development of the district and effect the
purposes of the district, the district shall be administered and governed by a board of
commissioners, composed of those members duly appointed to and serving on the board of
commissioners of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District ("LSED").
Provides that the board members shall serve without salary or per diem, but may reimburse any
member for reasonable, actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her
duties pursuant to proposed law.
Provide that the board shall elect from among its members a president, a vice president, a
secretary, and a treasurer, whose duties shall be those usual to such offices. At the option of the
board, the offices of secretary and treasurer may be held by one person.
Provides that the board shall meet in regular session once each month and shall also meet in
special session as often as the president of the board convenes the board or upon the written
request of three members. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business. All such meetings shall be public meetings to the provisions of R.S.
42:5. The board shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall make them available for inspection
through the board's secretary or secretary-treasurer, who shall also maintain the minute books and
archives of the district. The monies, funds, and accounts of the district shall be in the official
custody of the board.
Provides that the domicile of the board shall be established by the board at a location within the district and that the official journal of the district shall be the official journal of the LSED.
Provides that the district, acting by and through its board, 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 the following in addition to the
other rights and powers set out in proposed law:
(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 otherwise all property, including rights of way; to
hold and use any franchise or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or
any interest therein, necessary or desirable for carrying out the objects and purposes of the
district.
(4) To enter into contracts for the purchase, lease, acquisition, construction, and
improvement of works and facilities necessary in connection with the purposes of the
district, and to mortgage its properties and enter into leases and other agreements on
terms the board approves.
(5) To require and issue licenses with respect to its properties and facilities.
(6) To regulate the imposition of fees and rentals charged by the district for its facilities and
services rendered by it.
(7) To appoint officers, agents, and employees, prescribe their duties, and fix their
compensation.
(8) To enter into cooperative endeavor agreements with any other party, public or private, to
accomplish the purposes of proposed law.
(9) To exercise any and all of the powers granted to an economic development district as if
the district were an economic development district established pursuant to Part 2 of
Chapter 27 of Title 33 of the LRS, including but not limited to the powers of tax
increment financing pursuant to R.S. 33:9038.33 and 33:9038.34 and the power to levy
taxes within the district pursuant to R.S. 33:9038.39, provided that any such powers
exercised by the district shall be subject to the provisions of Part 2 of Chapter 27 of Title
33 of the LRS.
Provides that it is expressly provided that any taxes levied by the district, or any subdistrict
created by the district, may exceed the limitation set forth by Article VI, Section 29(A) of the
constitution and shall be imposed, collected and enforced subject to the terms of the resolution
imposing the tax and the provisions of Chapter 2 of Subtitle II of Chapter 47 of the LRS.
Provides that any taxes or assessments of any type to be levied by the district, or any subdistrict
created by the district, shall be levied only after the board has adopted an appropriate resolution
giving notice of its intention to levy such taxes or assessments, which resolution shall include a
general description of the taxes or assessments to be levied, and notice of this intention shall be
published once a week for two weeks in the official journal of the district, the first publication to
appear at least fourteen days before the public meeting of the board at which the board will meet
in open and public session to hear any objections to the proposed taxes or assessments. The
notice of intent so published shall state the date, time, and place of the public hearing. Such taxes or assessments may be levied only after the board has called a special election submitting the
proposition for the levy of such taxes or assessments to the qualified electors of the district or
subdistrict, as applicable, and the proposition has received the favorable vote of a majority of the
electors voting in the election; however, in the event there are no qualified electors in the district
or subdistrict, as applicable, as certified by the registrar of voters, no such election shall be
required. The powers and rights conferred by proposed law shall be in addition to the powers and
rights conferred by any other general or special law. Proposed law does and shall be construed to
provide a complete and additional method for the levy of any taxes or assessments. No election,
proceeding, notice, or approval shall be required for the levy of such taxes or assessments except
as provided herein.
Provides that the district may create subdistricts. The district shall publish notice of its intent to
create a subdistrict in the official journal of the district. At least 10 days after publication of such
notice in the official journal of the district, the board shall conduct a public hearing on the
question of creating such subdistrict. Thereafter, the board may designate one or more areas
within the boundaries of the district as a subdistrict of the district. Each subdistrict shall
constitute a political subdivision of the state and shall be governed by the board.
Provides that each subdistrict shall have the same powers as the district and shall be given a
name and designated as "Louisiana Economic Development District Subdistrict No. or such
other suitable name as the board may designate.
Provides that the district, or any subdistrict created by the district, is hereby authorized and
empowered to issue and sell from time to time bonds, notes, renewal notes, refunding bonds,
interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, certificates of participation, debentures,
warrants, commercial paper, or other obligations or evidences of indebtedness to provide funds
for and to fulfill and achieve its public purpose or corporate purposes, as set forth in this Subpart,
including but not limited to the payment of all or a portion of the costs of a project, to provide
amounts necessary for any corporate purposes, including necessary and incidental expenses in
connection with the issuance of the obligations, the payment of principal and interest on the
obligations of the district, the establishment of reserves to secure such obligations, and all other
purposes and expenditures of the district incident to and necessary or convenient to carry out its
public functions or corporate purposes, and any credit enhancement for said obligations.
Provides that except as may otherwise be provided by the board, all obligations issued by the
district, or any subdistrict created by the district, shall be negotiable instruments and payable
solely from the revenues of the district or subdistrict, as applicable, as determined by the board,
or from any other sources whatsoever, that may be available to the district or subdistrict, as
applicable, but shall not be secured by the full faith and credit of the state or the city.
Provides that obligations shall be authorized, issued, and sold by a resolution or resolutions of
the board. Such bonds or obligations may be of such series, bear such date or dates, mature at
such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates, including variable, adjustable, or zero
interest rates, be payable at such time or times, be in such denominations and in such form, carry
such registration and exchangeability privileges, be payable at such place or places, be subject to such terms of redemption, and be entitled to such priorities on the income, revenue, and receipts
of, or available to, the district or subdistrict, as applicable, as may be provided by the board in the
resolution or resolutions providing for the issuance and sale of the bonds or obligations of the
district.
Provides that the obligations of the district, or any subdistrict created by the district, shall be
signed by such officers of the board by either manual or facsimile signatures as shall be
determined by resolution or resolutions of the board, and shall have impressed or imprinted
thereon the seal of the district, or a facsimile thereof.
Provides that any obligations of the district, or any subdistrict created by the district, may be
validly issued, sold, and delivered, notwithstanding that one or more of the officers of the board
signing such obligations, or whose facsimile signature or signatures may be on the obligations,
shall have ceased to be such officer of the board at the time such obligations shall actually have
been delivered.
Provides that obligations of the district, or any subdistrict created by the district, may be sold at
such price or prices, at public or private negotiated sale, in such manner and from time to time as
may be determined by the district to be most beneficial, subject to approval of the State Bond
Commission, and the district may pay all expenses, premiums, fees, or commissions, which it
may deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the issuance and sale thereof.
Provides that the board may authorize the establishment of a fund or funds for the creation of a
debt service reserve, a renewal and replacement reserve, or such other funds or reserves as the
board may approve with respect to the financing and operation of any project funded with the
proceeds of such bonds and as may be authorized by any bond resolution, trust agreement,
indenture of trust or similar instrument or agreement pursuant to the provisions of which the
issuance of bonds or other obligations of the district or subdistrict may be authorized.
Provides that any cost, obligation, or expense incurred for any of the purposes or powers of the
district specified in proposed law shall be a part of the project costs and may be paid or
reimbursed as such out of the proceeds of bonds or other obligations issued by the district or
subdistrict.
Provides that for a period of 30 days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing the
issuance of bonds hereunder, any persons in interest shall have the right to contest the legality of
the resolution and the legality of the bond issue for any cause, after which time no one shall have
any cause or right of action to contest the legality of said resolution or of the bonds authorized
thereby for any cause whatsoever. If no suit, action, or proceeding is begun contesting the
validity of the bond issue within the thirty days herein prescribed, the authority to issue the bonds
and to provide for the payment thereof, and the legality thereof and all of the provisions of the
resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds shall be conclusively presumed, and no court
shall have authority to inquire into such matters.
Provides that neither the members of the board nor any person executing the bonds shall be personally liable for the bonds or be subject to any personal liability by reason of the issuance
thereof. However, this limitation of liability shall not apply to any gross negligence or criminal
negligence on the part of any member of the board or person executing the bonds.
Provides that all obligations authorized to be issued by the district, or any subdistrict created by
the district, pursuant to proposed law, together with interest thereof, income therefrom, and gain
upon the sale thereof shall be exempt from all state and local taxes.
Provides that the state and all public officers, any parish, municipality, or other subdivision or
instrumentality of the state, any political subdivision, any bank, banker, trust company, savings
bank and institution, building and loan association, savings and loan association, investment
company or any person carrying on a banking or investment business, any insurance company or
business, insurance association, and any person carrying on an insurance business, and any
executor, administrator, curator, trustee, and other fiduciary, and any retirement system or
pension fund may legally invest any funds belonging to them or within their control in any bonds
or other obligations issued by the district, or any subdistrict created by the district, pursuant to
proposed law, and such bonds or other obligations shall be authorized security for all public
deposits. It is the purpose of this Subsection to authorize such persons, firms, corporations,
associations, political subdivisions and officers, or other entities, public or private, to use any
funds owned or controlled by them, including but not limited to sinking, insurance, investment,
retirement, compensation, pension and trust funds, and funds held on deposit, for the purchase of
any such bonds or other obligations of the district or subdistrict, and that any such bonds shall be
authorized security for all public deposits. However, nothing contained in this provision with
regard to legal investments or security for public deposits shall be construed as relieving any such
person, firm, corporation, or other entity from any duty of exercising reasonable care in selecting
securities.
Provides that proposed law, being necessary for the welfare of the state, the city-parish and its
residents, shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Adds R.S. 33:9301-9309)