A. Creation. The Bastrop Downtown Development District, referred to in this Section as the "district", is hereby created within the city of Bastrop. The district shall be a political subdivision of the state created for the purpose of redeveloping and revitalizing the central business district.
B. Boundaries. The district shall be comprised of all the territory included within the following boundaries: beginning at the intersection of North Sassafras Street and Pine Street, then south on North Sassafras Street to East Jefferson Street, then west on East Jefferson Street to South Franklin Street, then south on South Franklin Street to School Street, then east on School Street, then south on School Street to Cahoon Street, then west on Cahoon Street to South Washington Street, then north on South Washington Street to West Hickory Street, then west on West Hickory Street to South Vine Street, then north on South Vine Street to Pine Street, then east on Pine Street to North Washington Street, then north on North Washington Street to West Cypress Street, then east on West Cypress Street to North Franklin Street, then south on North Franklin Street to Pine Street, then east on Pine Street to the point of beginning.
C. Governance. (1) In order to provide for the orderly planning, development, acquisition, construction, and effectuation of the services, improvements, and facilities to be furnished by the district and to provide for the representation in the affairs of the district of those persons and interests immediately concerned with and affected by the purposes and development of the district, the district shall be managed by a seven-member board of commissioners, referred to in this Section as the "board". The members of the board shall be appointed as follows:
(a) Five members shall be appointed by the mayor of the city of Bastrop, with approval of the governing authority of the city of Bastrop.
(b) Two members shall be appointed by the governing authority of the city of Bastrop, each of whom shall have his principal place of business or profession in, or own property in, the district.
(2)(a) Members of the board shall serve five-year terms after initial terms as provided by Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.
(b) One member shall serve an initial term of one year; one shall serve an initial term of two years; two shall serve an initial term of three years; two shall serve an initial term of four years; and one shall serve an initial term of five years, as determined by lot at the first meeting of the board.
(c) Any vacancy which occurs prior to the expiration of the term for which a member of the board has been appointed shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.
(3) The board shall elect from its members a chairman, a vice chairman, a secretary-treasurer, and such other officers as it may deem necessary. The duties of the officers shall be fixed by the bylaws adopted by the board.
(4) The minute books and archives of the district shall be maintained by the secretary of the board. The monies, funds, and accounts of the district shall be in the official custody of the board.
(5) The board shall adopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary or advisable for conducting its business affairs. It shall hold regular meetings as shall be provided in the bylaws and may hold special meetings at such times and places within the district as may be prescribed in the bylaws.
(6) A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The board shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall make them available through the secretary of the board.
(7) The members of the board shall serve without compensation; however, they shall receive a travel allowance as reimbursement for expenses incurred while attending to the business of the board or the district.
D. District plan. (1) The board shall prepare or cause to be prepared a plan or plans, referred to in this Section as the "plan", specifying the public improvements, facilities, and services proposed to be furnished, constructed, or acquired for the district and shall conduct public hearings, publish notice with respect thereto, and disseminate information as it, in the exercise of its sound discretion, may deem to be appropriate or advisable and in the public interest.
(2) Any plan may specify and encompass any public services, capital improvements, and facilities which the city of Bastrop is authorized to undertake, furnish, or provide under the constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, and such specified public services, improvements, and facilities shall be special and in addition to all services, improvements, and facilities which the city of Bastrop is then furnishing or providing or may then or in the future be obligated to furnish or provide within the district.
(3) Any plan shall include:
(a) An estimate of the annual and total cost of acquiring, constructing, or providing the services, improvements, or facilities set forth therein.
(b) An estimate of the total number of mills required to be levied each year on the taxable real property within the district in order to provide the funds required for the implementation of the plan.
(c) The proportion of the tax to be levied on the taxable real property within the district which is to be set aside and dedicated to paying the cost of furnishing specified services and the proportion of such tax to be set aside and dedicated to paying the cost of capital improvements or paying the cost of debt service on any bonds to be issued to pay the cost of capital improvements, such proportions, in each case, to be expressed in numbers of mills.
(4)(a) The board shall submit the plan to the governing authority of the city of Bastrop. The governing authority of the city shall review and consider the plan and may, by a majority vote of all its members, adopt or reject the plan as originally submitted by the board or alter or modify the plan or any portion or detail thereof.
(b) If the plan as originally submitted by the board is adopted by the majority vote of the governing authority of the city, it shall become final and conclusive and may thereafter be implemented. If the governing authority of the city alters or modifies the plan by a majority vote of its members, the plan as altered or modified shall be resubmitted to the board for its concurrence or rejection.
(c) The board may concur in the modified plan by a majority vote of all of its members. If the board votes to concur in the plan as modified by the governing authority of the city, the plan shall become final and conclusive and may thereafter be implemented. If the board does not concur in the plan as modified by the governing authority of the city, it shall notify the governing authority of the city in writing of its decision.
(d) Thereafter and as often as the board may deem to be necessary or advisable, it shall prepare or cause to be prepared a plan or plans and submit such plan or plans to the governing authority of the city for its adoption, modification, or rejection in the manner and with the same effect as provided with respect to the original plan.
E. Services and improvements. (1) All services to be furnished within the district pursuant to any plan finally and conclusively adopted may be furnished, supplied, and administered by the city of Bastrop through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities. All capital improvements and facilities to be acquired, constructed, or provided within the district, may likewise be so acquired, constructed, or provided by the city of Bastrop through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities, it being the intention of this Paragraph to avoid the duplication of administrative and management efforts and expense in the implementation of any plan adopted for the benefit of the district.
(2) In order to provide services and/or provide, construct, or acquire capital improvements or facilities, the board may enter into intergovernmental local service contracts with the city of Bastrop.
F. District taxes. (1) The governing authority of the city of Bastrop is hereby authorized to levy and collect a special ad valorem tax on property in the district, as authorized by the Bastrop Downtown Development District, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection.
(2) The amount of the tax shall be as requested by duly adopted resolution of the board of commissioners and shall not exceed five mills.
(3)(a) A tax shall be imposed only after the question of its imposition has been approved by a majority of the registered voters of the district voting on the proposition at an election held in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code.
(b) The tax shall expire at the time provided in the proposition authorizing the tax, not to exceed fifty years, but the tax may be renewed as provided in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph. If renewed, the term of the imposition of the tax shall be as provided in the proposition authorizing such renewal.
(4) No such tax shall be levied until a plan requiring or requesting the levy of a tax is finally and conclusively adopted pursuant to the provisions of Subsection D of this Section.
(5) The tax shall be collected in the same manner and at the same time as all other ad valorem taxes on property subject to taxation by the city are levied and collected.
(6) The avails of the tax authorized by this Subsection shall be paid over by the tax collector to the finance department of the city of Bastrop, day by day, as the same are collected for the account of the district.
(7) It is expressly declared that the special tax authorized by this Subsection is limited to immovable property, and nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to authorize the levy of a tax upon movable property of any kind or description whatsoever, whether corporeal or incorporeal.
G.(1)(a) Subject to the provisions of this Subsection, the governing authority of the city of Bastrop when requested by resolution adopted by a majority of the members of the board of commissioners and approved by a resolution of the governing authority of the city adopted by a majority vote of its members may fund the avails of the tax authorized by Subsection F of this Section into bonds or other instruments of indebtedness for the exclusive benefit of the district. The outstanding principal amount shall never exceed twenty million dollars and shall not exceed the principal amount which may be serviced in principal and interest from seventy-five percent of the avails estimated to be available in the first and each succeeding year that there are outstanding bonds. The bonds shall bear such rate or rates of interest and, except as otherwise provided by this Subsection, shall be in such form, terms, and denominations, and be redeemable at such times and places, within a period not exceeding fifty years from the date thereof, as may be provided for in the resolution of the governing authority of the city of Bastrop providing for their issuance.
(b) Bonds issued under the provisions of this Section shall not constitute general obligations of the city of Bastrop, the parish of Morehouse, or the state of Louisiana within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory provisions. No property situated within the city other than property situated within the boundaries of the district shall be subject to taxation for the payment of the principal of, premium if any, and interest on such bonds. Furthermore, any indebtedness incurred by the city of Bastrop for and on behalf and for the benefit of the district pursuant to the provisions of this Section, whether evidenced by bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness, or otherwise, shall be excluded in determining the power of the city of Bastrop to incur indebtedness and to issue its general obligation bonds.
(c) No bonds shall be issued unless a proposition authorizing the issuance of such bonds and stating the maximum amount of bonds to be issued and the maximum period over which the bonds will be outstanding has been submitted to the district electors at an election held in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and such proposition has been approved by a majority of the district electors who vote on the proposition.
(2) The bonds shall be signed by the mayor of the city of Bastrop and the director of finance of the city of Bastrop, provided that in the discretion of the governing authority of the city one of the signatures may be in facsimile. If any officer whose signature appears upon a bond or coupon ceases to be an officer before delivery of the bonds or coupons to the purchaser, his signature or countersignature shall nevertheless be valid for all purposes.
(3)(a) The resolution of the governing authority of the city of Bastrop authorizing the issuance and sale of such bonds and fixing the form and details thereof may contain such other provisions as the governing authority of the city may deem to be necessary or advisable to enhance the marketability and acceptability thereof by purchasers and investors, including but not limited to covenants with bondholders setting forth:
(i) Conditions and limitations on the issuance of additional bonds constituting a lien and charge on the avails of the special tax levied on real property within the district, pari passu with bonds theretofore issued and outstanding.
(ii) The creation of reserves for the payment of the principal of and interest on such bonds.
(b) These bonds and the interest thereon shall be exempt from all taxation levied for state, parish, municipal, or other local purposes.
(c) Savings banks, tutors of minors, curators of interdicts, trustees and other fiduciaries are authorized to invest the funds in their hands in the bonds issued pursuant to this Subsection.