§1807. St. Tammany subdrainage districts

A. The governing authority of the parish of St. Tammany is hereby authorized to create subdrainage districts within the boundaries of drainage districts situated within St. Tammany Parish. All of the land in any subdrainage district shall be contiguous.

B. The governing authority of each such sub-drainage district shall be composed of a five member commission appointed by the governing authority for five year terms. Commissioners shall be domiciled within the boundary of the sub-district.

C. Any sub-drainage district created hereunder shall be considered a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, and is granted and shall have all the powers necessary to construct and acquire and operate and maintain projects, works, improvements and equipment to improve and facilitate drainage within such district and which shall include, but without limitation, the authority to construct projects for the drainage of lands in the district by the construction, improvement, extension, renewal and/or replacement of drainage facilities, including canals, ditches, pumps, levees and related buildings, machinery, rights-of-way and sites. Each district is also granted and shall have all powers necessary or convenient for the carrying out of such purposes including, but without limiting the foregoing provisions of this Section, the following rights and powers:

(1) To acquire, purchase, lease as lessee and hold and use any franchise, property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of such district, and to sell, lease, transfer and dispose of any property or interest therein at any time acquired by it.

(2) To acquire by purchase, lease as lessee or otherwise and to construct, improve, maintain, repair and operate improvements, equipment, or facilities which it deems necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes.

(3) To enter into agreements of any nature with any person or persons, corporations, association or other entity, including public corporations, political subdivisions, municipalities, the United States government and agencies thereof, the state of Louisiana or any of its agencies, or any combination thereof, or with instrumentalities of every kind, for the operation and maintenance of all or any part of the properties, improvements, equipment, and facilities of the district.

(4) To make and enter into contracts, conveyances, mortgages, deeds or trusts, bonds, and leases in the carrying out of its purposes.

(5) To let contracts for the construction, acquisition, maintenance, and operation of property, improvements, and facilities of a district incident to the carrying out of the purposes of such district.

(6) To fix, maintain, collect, and revise rates and charges for the improvements, equipment, or facilities of the district and the services rendered thereby.

(7) To fund the revenues derived from said improvements, equipment, and facilities into revenue bonds in accordance with the provisions of Part XIII, Chapter 4 of Title 39* of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

(8) To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs.

(9) To cooperate and contract with the government of the United States or any department or agency thereof and with the state of Louisiana or any political subdivision, department, or agency thereof and to accept gifts, grants, and donations of property and money therefrom or from any other source.

(10) To cooperate with the state of Louisiana or any political subdivision, department, agency, or corporation of such district for the construction, operation, and maintenance of improvements, equipment, and facilities designed to accomplish the purpose for which such district is created on any basis including the matching of funds and by participating in projects authorized by any federal or state law as it shall see fit.

(11) To levy and collect a parcel fee, which shall not exceed five hundred dollars per parcel per year, which parcel fee shall be imposed by resolution by the governing authority of a district only after the question of the imposition of the parcel fee and the purpose, rate, and duration of the parcel fee has been approved by a majority of the votes of such district voting at an election held therein. Any parcel fee imposed pursuant to this Section shall be levied and collected and be due and owing annually. Such fee may be carried on the tax rolls of St. Tammany Parish and collected at the same time as parish ad valorem taxes. If any parcel fee is not paid when due, such district shall proceed against the parcel for the collection of the amount of the fee unpaid and delinquent, any collection costs incurred by such district plus interest at a rate not exceeding twelve percent on the unpaid amount of the parcel fee, and in the event legal proceedings are necessary to effect collection, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. Provided, however, that attorney's fees shall be payable by the parcel owner if demand by the governing authority of such district has been made on the parcel owner by registered or certified mail, and such parcel owner has failed to pay the amount due within ten days after such demand. A judgment obtained for non-payment of a parcel fee, upon being recorded in the mortgage records of St. Tammany Parish, shall prime all other liens except those for taxes and prior recorded local or special assessments. If there are one or more property mortgages on such parcel and the mortgage holder or holders have notified the tax collector in St. Tammany Parish of such recorded mortgage in accordance with the requirements of R.S. 47:2180.1, such district, prior to proceedings against such parcel for failure to pay a parcel fee, shall give notice to each mortgagee of the amount of the parcel fee due and owing on such parcel and that such parcel fee must be paid within twenty days after the mailing of the notice or proceedings will be commenced against the parcel. Such notice shall be sent to each such mortgage holder by certified mail return receipt requested or made by personal or domiciliary service on such mortgage holder.

(12) To incur debt and issue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of all or a portion of the proceeds of a parcel fee, provided, however, that the question of funding said proceeds into bonds shall have been approved by a majority of the voters of such district voting at an election held therein. Such bonds may be sold at public or private sale and shall be issued pursuant to the provisions of a resolution adopted by the governing authority of such district, provided, however, the bonds shall mature over a period not to exceed the period for which the parcel fee, the proceeds of which are to be used to pay principal and interest on the bonds, is authorized. Such bonds and the income therefrom shall be exempt from taxation by the state of Louisiana and by any parish, municipality, or political subdivision thereof.

(13) To expropriate property for any necessary purposes of a district; provided, however, the district shall not have the right to expropriate mineral or mineral rights.

D. A "parcel" as used in this Section shall mean a lot, a sub-divided portion of ground, or an individual tract.

Acts 1987, No. 297, §1, eff. July 5, 1987; Acts 1988, No. 387, §1.

*R.S. 39:1011 et seq.