§489. Fee; ad valorem tax; borrowing money

A.(1) For the purposes of obtaining funds, the board may levy annually an ad valorem tax not to exceed five 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 favorable vote of a majority of the qualified electors in each parish within the district in an election to be called within three years of the effective date of this Part and held for that purpose in accordance with existing laws. Funds derived under this Subsection may be used to defray the administrative and operating expenses of the board, make in-kind distributions to port operations doing business associated with the project for dredging, administration, and operation of certain ports, to obtain funds for the maintenance and improvement of the project, and to fund the nonfederal sponsor's local cost share for work on the project by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The board may pledge all or part of the revenues therefrom to the payment of bonds to be issued by the district, provided that the total ad valorem tax collections shall not exceed twenty million dollars annually.

(2) Provided sufficient monies are received from ad valorem tax collections, the board shall make payments annually to the following entities in the stated amounts:

(a) The Cameron Parish Port, Harbor, and Terminal District - five hundred thousand dollars.

(b) The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District - five hundred thousand dollars.

(c) The West Calcasieu Port - three hundred thousand dollars.

(d) The Vinton Harbor and Terminal District - two hundred thousand dollars.

B. Should the vote of a majority of the qualified electors in each parish within the district fail to pass and levy the tax, legislative authority for the Calcasieu-Cameron Navigation District shall terminate July first of the year following the date of the election.

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

D. 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 Part. The sheriffs and ex officio tax collectors of the parishes of Calcasieu and Cameron 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 collectors 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 to 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.

E.(1) The board may borrow money from time to time for the purpose of defraying the administrative, operation, 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.

(2) With the approval of the State Bond Commission, the 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 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. However, the 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 five 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 the tax and other revenues to secure the payment of the 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 the tax revenues, the tax shall be levied and collected as long as the 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, the bonds shall be issued in compliance with the requirements of R.S. 34:490 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.

Acts 2018, No. 239, §1.