§130.883. Powers of district

            A. The district, acting by and through its board of commissioners or its executive committee, shall have and exercise all powers of a political subdivision necessary or convenient to implement its objects and purposes, including but not limited to rights and powers set out in this Subpart:

            (1) To sue and be sued.

            (2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.

            (3) To acquire by gift, grant, purchase, lease, option, bequest, mortgage device, exchange, or sale, all property, including rights-of-way, and to hold and use any franchise or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable for carrying out the objects and purposes of the district, including but not limited to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of businesses, warehouses, housing programs, or industrial parks and all types of terminals. The district may provide industrial incentives, below market leases, loans, grants, and infrastructure.

            (4) To purchase, acquire, construct, improve, equip, and furnish works and facilities necessary to achieve the purposes of the district, including economic development projects.

            (5) To require and issue licenses with respect to the use of its properties and facilities.

            (6) To regulate the imposition of fees and rentals charged by the district for the facilities and services rendered by it.

            (7) To appoint, contract with, or employ officers, attorneys, clerks, engineers, deputy commissioners, a director, and other agents and employees, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation and terms of employment.

            (8) To provide or arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair by any person or agency, public or private, of or for services, privileges, or works on streets, roads, public utilities, or other facilities for or in connection with a redevelopment project to install, construct, and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other public improvements.

            (9) To establish business and industry foundations or nonprofit economic development corporations, for the purpose of providing venture capital, equity loans, or financing, and to take stock as security for an equity position in start-up and expanding businesses and industries; the purpose being to help establish sound, financially stable businesses and industries which will employ, at least fifty percent of their work force, residents from St. Martin Parish and surrounding parishes. The foundation may enter into contractual agreements for intervention in the event of a negative cash flow by the business industry.

            B. In order to provide growth and development of the district and the prosperity and welfare of the people of the district, to expand, restore, improve, and develop existing housing, commercial, and industrial structures within the district, and to encourage the fullest use of underutilized resources, and in order to improve communication and coordination among the economic and human development efforts of state, federal, and local governments and to encourage maximum local participation in the development and coordination of federal, state, regional, and local programs in Louisiana and in order to better coordinate state plans and programs with one another, as well as with programs in the federal, regional, local, and private sectors, the district, acting by and through the board shall:

            (1) Make recommendations concerning natural and environmental factors, needs, and trends of business and industry, housing needs, social or educational trends, population, or other developments; the habits and lifestyles of the people of the district; the relation of land use within the district as it relates to the parish as a whole; areas for the concentration of wholesale, retail, housing, business, and other commercial or industrial uses; and areas for recreational uses and for spaces and areas of mixed uses.

            (2) Make recommendations concerning the need for and the proposed general location of public and private works and facilities or to provide those facilities.

            (3) Make or assist in studies and investigations of the resources of the district and the existing and emerging problems of industry, commerce, transportation, population, housing, and public service affecting the redevelopment of the district, and in making such studies to seek the cooperation and collaboration of the appropriate departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of federal, state, and local government, educational institutions, research organizations, whether public or private, and of civic groups and private persons and organizations. The district may implement the plans, programs, and objectives.

            (4) Prepare, and from time to time revise, inventory listings of the district's resources and of the major public and private works and facilities of all kinds which are deemed necessary to the redevelopment of the district.

            (5) Cooperate and confer with and upon request supply information to federal agencies and to local and regional agencies created pursuant to a federal program or which receive federal support, and cooperate and confer, as far as possible, with economic development districts in and outside of the state.

            (6) Advise and supply information, as far as available, to civic groups and private persons and organizations who may request such information or advice, and who study or otherwise concern themselves with the district's problems and development of the fields of business and industry, labor, natural resources, urban growth, public facilities, recreational facilities, housing, and public service activities such as public health and education, insofar as such problems and development may be relevant to the district's redevelopment.

            (7) Provide information to officials of departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of state and local government and to the public at large, in order to foster public awareness and understanding of the objectives of the district in order to stimulate public interest and participation in the orderly, integrated development of the district.

            (8) Accept and receive, in furtherance of its functions, funds, grants, and services from the federal government or its agencies, from departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of state, parish, municipal, or local government, or from private or civic sources.

            (9) Solicit the assistance and active cooperation of industry and private organizations in creating public-private partnerships which could assist in economic development within the district.

            (10) Hold public hearings and sponsor public forums whenever it deems necessary or useful in the execution of its functions.

            (11) Exercise all other powers necessary and proper for the discharge of its duties.

            C.(1) The district, acting by and through the board or the executive committee, may prepare or cause to be prepared a revitalization plan specifying the private, nonprofit, or public improvements, facilities, or services proposed to be furnished, operated, maintained, constructed, renovated, or acquired by the district and shall conduct such public hearings, publish such notice with respect thereto, and disseminate such information as it may deem appropriate or advisable and in the public interest.

            (2) Any plan may specify and encompass any public services, capital improvements, and facilities which a parish may undertake, furnish, or provide under the constitution and laws of the state, and such specified public services, capital improvements, and facilities shall be special and in addition to all services, improvements, and facilities which the parish is then furnishing or providing or may then or in the future be obligated to furnish or provide within the district.

            (3) Any plan may include:

            (a) A program to implement the plan in such a manner to aid and encourage private development within the district, to enhance and improve residential neighborhoods within the district, and to promote and coordinate public development.

            (b) An estimate of the annual and total cost of acquiring, constructing, renovating, furnishing, operating, or maintaining the services, improvements, or facilities set forth therein.

            (c) An estimate of the total revenue required to implement the plan for furnishing the specified services and for capital improvements, debt service, or both, including the proportion of the revenue to be set aside and dedicated to paying the cost of furnishing-specified services and proportion of such revenue 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 costs of capital improvements.

            (d) A list of the services, professional and otherwise, proposed to be rendered, an estimate of the aggregate of the proposed expense of such services, and an estimate of other expenses of the board required for the implementation of the plan.

            (e) A proposed budget of income and expenditures specifying the source of funding, including the amount and duration of any proposed ad valorem tax, sales and use tax, parcel fee, service charge or rates of service charges, or any combination thereof.

            (4)(a) The board may submit the proposed plan to the governing authority of the parish for review and comment as to whether the plan is consistent with its respective comprehensive plans. Within thirty days after the receipt of the proposed plan, the governing authority shall submit its written findings as to whether or not the plan or any portion or detail thereof is inconsistent with its comprehensive plan, together with its written comments and recommendations with respect thereto to the board.

            (b) After receipt of the recommendations of the governing authority, the board shall review and consider the plan together with the written comments and recommendations. The board may modify the proposed plan based on such comments and recommendations and may thereafter proceed with plans, programs, and objectives to foster economic development and revitalization.

            Acts 2025, No. 442, §1.