§ 33:2740.70.6 — Ferriday Downtown Entertainment District

Louisiana § 33:2740.70.6

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 33: Municipalities and Parishes

Text

§2740.70.6. Ferriday Downtown Entertainment District
A. There is hereby created within the town of Ferriday, as more specifically
provided in Subsection B of this Section, a body politic and corporate which shall be
known as the Ferriday Downtown Entertainment District, referred to in this Section
as the "district". The district shall be a political subdivision of the state as defined
in the Constitution of Louisiana.
B. The boundaries of the district shall include the area within the following
perimeter: Texas Avenue, EE Wallace Boulevard, Mickey Gilley Avenue, and First
Street.
C. The district is created to provide for cooperative economic and community
development among the district, the city, the state, and the owners of property in the
district, to enhance the development of and improvement to the property within the
area of the district, and to expand the entertainment and leisure activities within the
district.
D.(1) In order to provide for the orderly development of the district and
effect the purposes of the district, the district shall be administered and governed by
a seven-member board of commissioners, referred to in this Section as the "board",
composed as follows:
(a) The mayor of the town of Ferriday shall appoint two members.
(b) The governing authority of the town of Ferriday shall appoint two
members.
(c) The chief executive officer of Concordia Bank & Trust shall appoint one
member.
(d) The chief executive officer of Delta Bank shall appoint one member.
(e) A representative of the Delta Museum appointed by the governing board
of the museum.
(2) Members shall serve three-year terms after serving initial terms as
provided in this Paragraph. Three members shall serve three-year initial terms, two
members shall serve two-year initial terms, and two members shall serve one-year
initial terms as determined by lot at the first meeting of the board.
(3) Any vacancy which occurs prior to the expiration of the term for which
a member of the board has been appointed shall be filled by appointment in the same
manner as the original appointment for the unexpired term.
(4) The board shall elect from its members a chairman, a vice chairman, a
secretary-treasurer, and other officers as it deems necessary. The duties of the
officers shall be fixed by the bylaws adopted by the board.
(5) The minute books and archives of the district shall be maintained by the
secretary-treasurer of the board. The monies, funds, and accounts of the district shall
be in the official custody of the board.
(6) The board shall adopt rules and regulations as it deems necessary or
advisable for conducting its business affairs. Rules and regulations of the board
relative to the notice and conduct of meetings shall conform to applicable law. The
board shall hold regular meetings as provided for in the bylaws and may hold special
meetings at such times and places within the district as prescribed in the bylaws.
(7) A majority of the members of the board constitutes a quorum for the
transaction of business. The board shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall make
them available through the secretary-treasurer of the board.
(8) The members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be
reimbursed for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses directly related to the governance
of the district.
E. The district, acting by and through its board, shall have and exercise all
powers of a political subdivision necessary or convenient for carrying out its objects
and purposes, including but not limited to the following:
(1) To sue and be sued.
(2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.
(3) To acquire by gift, grant, purchase, or lease all property, including rights-of-way, and to hold and use any franchise or property, immovable or movable,
corporeal or incorporeal, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable for carrying
out the objects and purposes of the district.
(4) To receive by gift, grant, or donation any sum of money, including rural
development funds, or property, aid, or assistance from the United States, the state
of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, or any person, firm, or corporation.
(5) To enter into contracts for the purchase, lease, acquisition, construction,
and improvement of works and facilities necessary in connection with the purposes
of the district and to mortgage its properties and enter into leases and other
agreements on terms that the board approves.
(6) To require and issue licenses with respect to properties and facilities
owned by the district.
(7) To regulate the imposition of fees and rentals charged by the district for
facilities owned and services rendered by it and to impose fees on the use or
occupancy of any other property within but not owned by the district with the consent
of the owner of such property.
(8) To appoint officers, agents, and employees, prescribe their duties, and fix
their compensation.
(9) To enter into cooperative endeavor agreements with any other party,
public or private, to accomplish the purposes of this Section.
F.(1) The board shall prepare or cause to be prepared a plan or plans
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, deems 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 town of Ferriday is authorized to undertake,
furnish, or provide under the constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, and the
specified public services, improvements, and facilities shall be special and in addition
to all services, improvements, and facilities which the town 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 an estimate of the annual and total cost of
acquiring, constructing, or providing the services, improvements, or facilities set
forth therein.
G.(1) In addition to the authority provided to the district by this Section, the
district may levy and collect a sales and use tax within the boundaries of the district
not to exceed two-tenths of a percent.
(2) The tax shall be imposed by resolution of the board and shall be levied
upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, the distribution,
and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and upon the
sales of services within the boundaries of the district, all as defined in R.S. 47:301
et seq. However, the resolution imposing the tax shall be adopted only after the
proposed tax is approved by a majority of the qualified electors of the district voting
on the proposition at an election held for that purpose, conducted in accordance with
the Louisiana Election Code, and held on a date that corresponds with an election
date provided by R.S. 18:402(A)(1), (B)(1), or (C)(1). The purpose and rate of the
tax shall be as provided in the resolution.
(3) Except where inapplicable, the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 et
seq. shall be followed in the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax, and
procedural details necessary to supplement those Sections and to make them
applicable to the tax authorized in this Subsection shall be fixed in the resolution
imposing the tax.
(4) The tax shall be imposed and collected uniformly throughout the
jurisdiction of the district.
(5) The tax levied pursuant to this Subsection shall be in addition to all other
taxes that other political subdivisions within the jurisdiction of the district are
authorized to levy and collect.
(6) The district shall have no other power of taxation, except as provided in
this Subsection.
H.(1)(a) In addition to any authority provided to the district by this Section,
the district shall have the authority provided to an economic development district by
Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title to implement tax increment financing and may
issue revenue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of up to the
full amount of tax increments available to an economic development district as
provided in this Section and in that Part to be derived from any project or projects of
the district as provided for in this Section, or parts of the projects, in an amount to be
determined as provided for in this Section, in order to finance or refinance any
project or projects, or parts thereof, which are consistent with the purposes of the
district.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any portion of the
tax of any local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body may be used
as a tax increment for tax increment finance purposes only with the consent of the
local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body expressed by ordinance
or resolution and upon approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the town of
Ferriday voting at an election held for that purpose and conducted in accordance with
the Louisiana Election Code.
(2) For purposes of the tax increment financing authority derived from Part
II of Chapter 27 of this Title which is conferred upon the district by this Section, and
only for purposes of this Section, "local governmental subdivision" as defined in such
Part shall include the parish of Concordia and all political subdivisions within the
parish.
(3) For purposes of this Section, a tax increment shall consist of that portion
of any tax, excluding a hotel occupancy tax, levied within the district by a local
governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body determined and pledged in the
manner provided for in Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title. However, if the proceeds
of any tax have been expressly dedicated to another purpose set forth in a proposition
approved by the electorate of the local governmental subdivision or other tax
recipient body, then the tax proceeds shall not be used as a tax increment until a
proposition which authorizes the use is submitted to and approved by the electorate.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the district
shall not levy a hotel occupancy tax within the boundaries of the district. In addition,
the district shall not issue revenue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and
dedication of hotel occupancy tax increments.
I. This Section, being necessary for the welfare of the city and its residents,
shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof.

Legislative History

Acts 2024, No. 200, §1, eff. July 1, 2024.