§2740.36. Tax on dumped trash; certain districts in the city of New Orleans

A. For the purposes of this Section:

(1) "Dumped" shall include dumped, deposited, abandoned, or otherwise discarded.

(2) "Trash" shall include any of the following if dumped in any area of a business and industrial district specified by district ordinance adopted pursuant to Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section: trash, garbage, refuse, junk, debris, leaves, grass, limbs or branches, wrecked or used automobile, motor vehicle, motor vehicle part or tire, machinery or any part thereof, metal, glass, grease or oil, including but not limited to any cooking oil or fat, motor oil, antifreeze, truck or automotive fluid, paint, paint thinner, or gasoline, or any other material. Trash shall not include items inadvertently lost from duly licensed commercial vehicles engaged in the collecting and hauling of solid waste, including residential solid waste, agricultural waste, commercial solid waste, construction or demolition debris, garbage, industrial solid waste, trash, white goods, woodwaste, and yard trash as defined by the Department of Environmental Quality's rules and regulations when such vehicles are in the course of servicing scheduled pick-up routes pursuant to commercial, municipal, or other local government contracts or are en route to an authorized pick-up station, transfer station, or disposal facility.

(3) "Trash dumper" shall mean the person including any political subdivision or agency who dumps trash in any area of a business and industrial district specified by district ordinance adopted pursuant to Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section.

B. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the governing body of a business and industrial district located in the city of New Orleans may levy and collect a tax on trash dumped in any area of the business and industrial district specified by district ordinance adopted pursuant to Paragraph (C)(2) of this Section.

C.(1) The rate of such tax shall be established by the ordinance imposing the tax and shall not exceed ten dollars per dry-weight pound of material dumped. The tax shall be paid by and collected from the trash dumper. In the ordinance levying the tax, the governing body of the business and industrial district may establish such requirements as are necessary to implement this Section, including but not limited to the method or methods for determining the actual dry-weight of trash to be taxed.

(2) The ordinance shall also specify the area or areas of the business and industrial district within which the tax shall be applicable.

D. The ordinance shall provide that the tax shall be collected by the tax collector for the business and industrial district or by a person or entity to be selected by the governing body of the district. The amount of tax due from the trash dumper shall be determined, in accordance with the ordinance imposing the tax, by the tax collector or by such other person or entity as shall be provided in the ordinance. The tax shall be due at such time as shall be provided in the ordinance. Upon determining the tax to be imposed on the trash dumper, the tax collector or such other person or entity that makes such determination shall mail a written notice of such determination to the trash dumper, setting out the amount of tax imposed on the trash dumper, the date that the amount of tax in the written notice will be due as required by ordinance, and the fact that the tax collector will proceed to collect the tax on that date. If the determination of the amount of the tax is not made by the tax collector, the person or entity that makes such determination shall mail a copy of the notice to the tax collector.

E. When the tax collector has sent or received, as the case may be, the written notice of the amount of tax determined to be imposed and due pursuant to this Section as provided in Subsection D of this Section, he shall proceed to collect and enforce the tax.

F. The trash dumper shall remit the tax due to the tax collector on or before the due date. The trash dumper shall also file with the tax collector any forms or returns prescribed by the tax collector or by the ordinance imposing the tax and shall include thereon any information required by such forms or returns.

G. When any person subject to the provisions of this Section fails to pay or remit the tax, or any portion thereof, on or before the day when it is required to be paid or remitted to the tax collector pursuant to the provisions of this Section, interest at the rate of one and one-half percent per month shall be added to the amount of tax due and such interest shall be computed from the due date until the tax is paid. Such interest shall be an obligation to be collected and accounted for in the same manner as if it were a part of the tax due and may be enforced in a separate action or in the same action for collection of the tax and shall not be waived.

H. When any trash dumper fails to pay any tax or interest assessed as provided in this Section, the tax collector may proceed to enforce the collection thereof by any reasonable means provided by law for the enforcement of taxes of the municipality. The governing body of the business and industrial district may by ordinance provide such additional reasonable means of enforcing the collection of the tax as it shall deem necessary.

I. All taxes and interest collected by the tax collector pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be paid over to the treasurer or other appropriate financial officer of the business and industrial district immediately upon receipt and shall be credited to the general fund of the district. Such funds may be used as provided by the governing body of the business and industrial district in accordance with applicable law.

J. When taxes have been determined to be due by a trash dumper, the business and industrial district shall undertake to collect all trash so taxed and to dispose of such trash in a landfill or other facility duly permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality to receive such trash.

K. The ordinance levying the tax shall also provide:

(1) That anyone upon whom the tax authorized by this Section is imposed shall have the right to a hearing in order to dispute the imposition of taxes, interest, or penalties by filing an appeal with the governing body of the business and industrial district within fifteen days of receipt of written notice of the taxes, interest, or penalties due. No such person shall be required to pay the disputed tax, interest, or penalties in order to exercise this right.

(2) The right to a formal hearing in order to contest the imposition of taxes, interest, or penalties by filing suit in the appropriate state district court within thirty days after a decision is rendered by the governing body of the business and industrial district. The taxes and any interest or penalties imposed must be paid in full under protest in order to exercise this right. If such appeal is timely filed, any amount of taxes, interest, or penalties that were paid under protest shall remain segregated and invested by the district.

Acts 2002, No. 69, §1, eff. July 1, 2002; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 20, §1, eff. June 12, 2011.