§471. Fee; ad valorem tax; borrowing money

A. The board may charge a reasonable fee to each vessel arriving in ballast or carrying cargo of any kind. It may also charge for each copy of any certificate issued by it or its deputies for inspecting hatches, surveying cargoes and the like. The master of each vessel shall, however, be furnished free one copy of all surveys upon his vessel or cargo.

B. The board may, when necessary, levy annually an ad valorem tax not to exceed three mills on the dollar on the property subject to taxation situated in the district, provided the levy of the tax shall have been authorized by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors in an election to be called and held for that purpose in accordance with existing laws. All funds derived under this Subsection may be used to defray the administrative, operative, and maintenance expenses of the board.

C. For the purpose of obtaining funds for the maintenance, operation, and improvement of the facilities of the district, the board may levy on the taxable property within the district a special ad valorem tax not in excess of seven mills on the dollar of assessed valuation and pledge all or part of the revenues therefrom to the payment of bonds to be issued by the district, provided the levy of the tax and the issuance of the bonds shall have been authorized by vote of a majority of the qualified electors in an election to be called and held for that purpose in accordance with existing laws.

D. The provisions of R.S. 34:409 and 34:422 shall not apply to the Jennings Navigation District of Louisiana; provided, however that this Subsection shall not operate to the impairment of contracts.

E. The provisions of the constitution and all laws regulating the collection of taxes and the creating of tax liens and mortgages, tax penalties and tax sales shall also apply to the collection of all taxes authorized by this Chapter. The sheriff and ex officio tax collector of the parish of Jefferson Davis shall make a monthly settlement with the treasurer of the board of commissioners and receive from him a receipt for the amount of taxes paid over, in the same manner as tax collectors are required to settle with the Division of Administration. The tax collector shall receive from the treasurer the same quietus for a full settlement of taxes due and exigible in any given year and account for the delinquents or deductions in the same manner as though accounting to the Division of Administration for state taxes. The tax collector shall retain from taxes collected by him for the district any commission thereon allowed him by law on special taxes and shall deposit the amount thereof with the parish treasurer to the credit of the sheriff's salary fund. Upon failure of the tax collector to comply with the provisions of this Part, the board of commissioners shall proceed against him and the sureties on his official bond for the collection of whatever money may be owing to the board of commissioners for such taxes.

F. The board may likewise borrow money from time to time for the purpose of defraying the administrative, operative and maintenance expenses of the board and may issue certificates of indebtedness secured by any fees authorized under this Part and by any taxes authorized under this Section, provided that any loan for this purpose shall in no year exceed the estimated revenues for such year.

With the approval of the state bond commission, said district, through the board as its governing authority, is authorized to incur debt for its lawful purposes and to issue negotiable bonds in its name representing the debt, and to pledge and dedicate for the payment of the principal and interest of such negotiable bonds the revenue derived from the ad valorem tax authorized by this Section and/or other revenues received by the district or the board from other sources, as may be provided by the board in the resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds and providing the security therefor; provided, however, that such bonds shall not be issued requiring principal and interest payments in any year in excess of eighty percent of the tax revenues which would have been received by the district had the seven mill tax been levied on the last assessment roll filed and of record. Such bonds shall be issued by the board with such dates, forms, terms, series, interest rates, maturities, denominations, redemption provisions and security provisions as the board may determine in compliance with this Section. Such bonds, when authorized to be issued, shall constitute a general obligation of the district to the payment of which the full faith and credit of the district shall be and is hereby pledged. In addition to the pledge of said tax and/or other revenues to secure the payment of said bonds in principal and interest, the board may further secure their payment by a conventional mortgage upon any and all properties constructed or acquired, or to be constructed and acquired by it from the proceeds of such bonds. In the event any bonds are issued secured by a pledge and dedication of said tax revenues, said tax shall be levied and collected as long as said bonds are outstanding in an amount sufficient to pay such bonds in principal and interest as they respectively mature. Any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds of the district may contain such covenants as the board may deem proper to assure the enforcement, collection and proper application of the tax or other revenues pledged and dedicated to the payment and security of the bonds, and other security provisions including the establishment of a bond reserve if deemed advisable by the board. Except as specifically provided in this Section, said bonds shall be issued in compliance with the requirements of R.S. 34:472 and the relative provisions of the constitution, including the public sale of such bonds and the thirty-day prescriptive period to contest the legality of such bonds and the security therefor, all as more fully therein provided.

Added by Acts 1978, No. 56, §1.