§7602. Findings, declaration of necessity and purpose

It is hereby found and declared that:

(1) It is the policy of the state to promote the sound growth and development of parishes and municipalities by enabling them to undertake the correction of deficient conditions, factors and characteristics through comprehensive and coordinated community development, the formulation, participation in, and adoption of public and private improvement programs related thereto and the encouragement of participation in such efforts by private enterprise.

(2) It is the policy of the state to enable parishes and municipalities to promote the safety, health, morals and welfare, comfort and security of the people of the state through the provision of adequate, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations and facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, for persons and families of all income levels.

(3) It is the policy of the state to promote a vigorous and growing economy, to prevent economic stagnation and to encourage the creation of new job opportunities in order to protect against the hazards of unemployment, reduce the level of public assistance to new indigent individuals and families, increase revenues to the state and to its parishes and municipalities and to achieve stable and diversified local economies. In furtherance of these goals, it is the policy of the state to enable parishes and municipalities to retain existing industries and to attract new industries through the acquisition, construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of industrial and manufacturing plants and commercial facilities, and to develop sites, reasonably accessible to residential facilities, for new industrial and commercial building, to the end that the industrial and commercial development of the area will proceed in sound fashion and in coordination with development of housing, mass transportation and public services.

(4) There exists in parishes and municipalities in the state an inadequate supply of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons and families of all income levels. This condition is contrary to the public interest and threatens the health, safety, morals and welfare, comfort, and security of the people of the parishes, municipalities, and state.

(5) There is a serious need in such parishes and municipalities for adequate educational, recreational, cultural and other community facilities, the lack of which threatens and adversely affects the health, safety, morals and welfare, comfort and security of the people of the parishes, municipalities and state.

(6) There is a need in such parishes and municipalities and the State of Louisiana to attract new industry and commerce and to stimulate the growth of existing commercial and industrial facilities, thereby contributing to the increased health, safety, morals and welfare, comfort and security of the people of the parishes, municipalities and the state.

(7) The ordinary operation of private enterprise acting alone cannot provide an adequate supply of commercial and industrial facilities, with the consequent creation of new employment opportunities, in proximity to an adequate supply of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations and facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto for persons and families of all income levels.

(8)(a) The interests of the state will be promoted, and the public interest best served, by the coordinated development of new communities in parishes and municipalities.

(b) Development of such new communities in a way that is consistent with the economic and social interests of such parishes and municipalities can:

(i) Bolster the financial position of such parishes and municipalities by enlarging their assessable tax base and by substantially increasing the value of parish and municipally-owned land.

(ii) Provide a high quality environment in which people of all income levels can live, work, learn, and spend their leisure time.

(iii) Protect and enhance property values therein.

(iv) Enlarge cultural, institutional, and employment opportunities.

(v) Provide a high level of amenities for such parishes and municipalities by providing for recreation in the context of a total physical and economic development.

(c) Such coordinated development will stimulate private investment and participation in comprehensive development programs for such areas.

(9) There exists within parishes and municipalities, vacant or essentially vacant land, which presents such parishes and municipalities with opportunities to develop a highly desirable quality of life for the benefit of their residents and the people of the state, as well as to plan for the entire growth of such parishes and municipalities for the rest of this century through the acquisition, planning, and development of such land and immediate and positive action is required to ensure rational growth of available vacant land, while maximizing development opportunities and social values.

(10) The preservation or enhancement of the tax base from which a taxing district within parishes and municipalities realizes tax revenues is essential to its existence and financial health; the preservation and enhancement of such tax base is implicit in the purposes for which a taxing district is established; tax increment financing is an effective method of achieving such preservation and enhancement in areas in which such tax base is not experiencing vigorous growth or is declining; community development in such areas, when complete, will enhance such tax base and provide increased tax revenues to all affected taxing districts, increasing their ability to accomplish their other respective purposes; and the preservation and enhancement of the tax base in such areas through tax increment financing and the levying of taxes by such taxing districts therefor and the appropriation of funds to a new community trust fund bears a substantial relation to the purposes of such taxing districts and is for their respective purposes and concerns.

(11) For these purposes, there should be created bodies corporate to be known as "New Community Development Corporations" through which the acquisition, planning, and development of land and the encouragement of maximum participation by the private sector of the economy (including the sale or lease of the corporation's interest in projects, if deemed feasible), may be accomplished, and through participation in programs undertaken by the state, its agencies and subdivisions, parishes and municipalities, and the federal government and the issuance of bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness, the corporations and their subsidiaries may provide or obtain the capital resources necessary to acquire, construct or improve industrial, manufacturing, commercial, educational, recreational and cultural facilities, housing accommodations for persons and families of all income levels, facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, transportation systems and facilities, and carry out the clearance, planning, mapping, development, and construction of such areas.

(12) The interest of the state will be promoted, and the public interest best served, by permitting the corporations created hereby a wide scope in the purchase, development and disposition of property acquired by them in connection with new community development projects and related activities and statutory provisions imposing restrictions upon the purchase and disposition of property by public bodies, if applied to such corporations, may hamper such corporations in the exercise of their functions with respect to such projects and related activities and adversely affect the public purposes sought to be achieved by this Chapter.

(13) The acquisition, construction or improvement of industrial, manufacturing and commercial facilities, transportation systems and facilities, and of cultural, educational and recreational facilities and other public facilities, the planning, mapping, development and construction of such areas, the provision of adequate, safe and sanitary housing accommodations for persons and families of all income levels and such facilities as may be incidental or appurtenant thereto, are public uses and public purposes for which public money may be loaned, private property may be acquired, and tax exemptions granted, and that the powers and duties of the new community development corporation and their subsidiaries as hereinafter prescribed are necessary and proper as a matter of legislative determination to achieve the public purposes herein recited.

Acts 1972, No. 553, §2; Acts 1987, No. 815, §1, eff. July 20, 1987; Acts 1991, No. 289, §10; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 20, §1, eff. June 12, 2011.