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2019 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 226
BY SENATOR BARROW
TAX EXEMPTIONS. Provides for tax exemptions for special districts created to finance
capital improvements. (gov sig)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 33:2740.9, relative to tax exemptions for certain special districts
3 created to finance capital improvements; to provide for the creation of such districts;
4 to authorize the levy of sales and use taxes and ad valorem taxes by the districts; to
5 clarify the exemptions that will be in effect in such districts; to provide for public
6 hearings and elections; to provide for retroactive and prospective application; to
7 provide for an effective date; and to provide for related matters.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. R.S. 33:2740.9 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
10 ยง2740.9. East Baton Rouge Parish Certain parishes; special taxing districts;
11 additional sales and use tax; ad valorem tax
12 A. The governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish a parish with a
13 population of more than four hundred and forty thousand persons as
14 established by the most recent federal decennial census is hereby authorized to
15 create within the parish one or more capital improvement districts which may
16 contain all or any portion of the territory contained within the present boundaries of
17 the parish. Each district created under the authority of this Section shall be created
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1 by ordinance of the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish the parish
2 setting forth the area or areas of the parish to be included in the district. The
3 governing authority of the parish shall be the governing authority for any district so
4 created.
5 B.(1) In order to fund projects of capital improvement within any district
6 created pursuant to the provisions of this Section, including but not limited to
7 improvements to public roads, streets, and gravity drainage works, the governing
8 authority of East Baton Rouge Parish the parish, as the governing authority of the
9 district, is hereby authorized to levy a sales and use tax not exceeding one percent
10 within the district, subject to an exemption for food for home consumption and
11 prescription drugs, and subject to the approval of a majority of the electors voting
12 in the election who reside in the district.
13 (2) The tax shall be imposed by ordinance and shall be levied upon the sale
14 at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, the distribution, and storage
15 for consumption, of tangible personal property, and upon the sales of services within
16 the district, all as presently or hereafter defined in R.S. 47:301 through 317, both
17 inclusive, except that the sale at retail, the use, the consumption, the
18 distribution, and the storage for use or consumption, in the parish of food for
19 home consumption, as defined in R.S. 47:305(D)(1)(n) through (r), and
20 prescription drugs, as defined in R.S. 47:305(D)(1)(j), is hereby specifically
21 exempted from the tax authorized by this Section.
22 (3) This tax shall be in addition to all other taxes currently levied in East
23 Baton Rouge Parish the parish, and, except where inapplicable, the procedure
24 established by R.S. 47:301 through 317 shall be followed in the imposition,
25 collection, and enforcement of the tax and procedural details necessary to be
26 established to supplement the provisions of those Sections and to make said
27 provisions applicable to the tax herein authorized shall be fixed in the ordinance
28 imposing the tax.
29 C. In order to fund projects of capital improvement within any district
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1 created pursuant to the provisions of this Section, including but not limited to
2 improvements to public roads, streets, and gravity drainage works, the governing
3 authority of East Baton Rouge Parish the parish, is hereby authorized to levy an ad
4 valorem tax on property located within the boundaries of the district, subject to the
5 approval of a majority of the electors voting in the election who reside in the district.
6 D.(1) Prior to adoption of any ordinance levying a tax under the provisions
7 of this Section, the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish the parish shall
8 hold at least one public meeting to consider the proposed capital improvements and
9 the tax or taxes to be levied to fund the improvements. Notice of the time and place
10 of the meeting shall be published once a week in three different weeks in the official
11 journal of the parish. At least fifteen days shall elapse between the first publication
12 and the date of the meeting.
13 (2) At any time after the meeting the governing authority may call an
14 election at which there shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the area within
15 the district a proposition to authorize the imposition of the sales tax or the ad
16 valorem tax, or both, including the capital improvements to be funded and the rate
17 and duration of the tax, and a majority of those voting in the election shall have
18 voted in favor of the proposition.
19 (3) The proposition may also include provisions authorizing the funding of
20 the additional sales tax or the ad valorem tax into negotiable bonds or certificates of
21 indebtedness payable solely from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of all or a
22 portion of the proceeds of the tax or taxes, subject to the prior payment of the costs
23 and expenses of administration and collection of the tax.
24 E. The proceeds of any tax authorized by and levied in accordance with the
25 provisions of this Section shall be used exclusively for capital improvements within
26 the district.
27 Section 2. The provisions of this Act relative to the sales and use tax exemptions for
28 food and prescription drugs are intended to clarify that these items were always intended and
29 believed to be exempt from taxation and therefore these provisions shall be applied
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1 retroactively as well as prospectively.
2 Section 3. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
3 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
4 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
5 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
6 effective on the day following such approval.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Martha S. Hess.
DIGEST
SB 226 Engrossed 2019 Regular Session Barrow
Present law authorizes the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish to create, by
ordinance, one or more capital improvement districts within the parish.
Proposed law changes present law to provide that any parish with a population of more than
440,000 persons as established by the most recent federal decennial census is authorized to
create, by ordinance, one or more capital improvement districts within the parish.
Present law authorizes the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish, as the governing
authority of the district, in order to fund projects of capital improvement within any district,
to levy a sales and use tax, in addition to all other taxes currently levied in East Baton Rouge
Parish. Present law does not include an exemption for food and prescription drugs.
Proposed law authorizes the governing authority of the parish, as the governing authority of
the district, in order to fund projects of capital improvement within any district, to levy a
sales and use tax, in addition to all other taxes currently levied in the parish. Proposed law
contains an exemption from the tax for the sale at retail, the use, the consumption, the
distribution, and the storage for use or consumption, in the parish of food for home
consumption and prescription drugs in accordance with the definitions of food for home
consumption and drugs provided in R.S. 47:305.
Present law provides that the tax shall be in addition to all other taxes currently levied in
East Baton Rouge Parish, and the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 through 317 shall
be followed in the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax.
Proposed law provides that the tax shall be in addition to all other taxes currently levied in
the parish, and the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 through 317 shall be followed in
the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax.
Present law authorizes the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish to levy ad
valorem taxes on property located within the district, to be used exclusively for capital
improvements within the district.
Proposed law authorizes the governing authority of the parish to levy ad valorem taxes on
property located within the district, to be used exclusively for capital improvements within
the district.
Present law and proposed law require the approval of a majority of the electors voting in the
election who reside in the district prior to the imposition of the sales tax or the ad valorem
tax.
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Present law and proposed law provide for public hearings prior to the elections.
Present law and proposed law authorize the election proposition to include the funding of
the additional sales tax or the ad valorem tax into bonds.
Proposed law provides that the provisions of proposed law relative to the sales and use tax
exemptions for food and prescription drugs are intended to clarify that such exemptions were
always intended and believed to be exempt from taxation and therefore these provisions shall
be applied retroactively, as well as prospectively.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Amends R.S. 33:2740.9)
Summary of Amendments Adopted by Senate
Committee Amendments Proposed by Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal
Affairs to the original bill
1. Make technical changes.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.