§1506.  Special fire protection districts; creation; subdistricts; boards; powers, duties, and functions

A.  When used in this Section, the following terms have these meanings:

(1)  "Board" means the board of commissioners of a district created pursuant to this Section.

(2)  "District" means a fire protection district created pursuant to this Section.

(3)  "Fire protection service" means but is not necessarily limited to the following:

(a)  Acquiring and maintaining land for a fire station site.

(b)  Acquiring, constructing, maintaining, and operating fire protection facilities.

(c)  Acquiring, maintaining, and operating fire trucks and other fire protection or emergency equipment.

(d)  Obtaining water for fire protection purposes, including charges for fire hydrant rentals and service.

(e)  Paying salaries of firemen.

(4)  "Subdistrict" means any subdistrict of a district.

B.  In addition to other authority granted by law, a parish governing authority may create a fire protection district in the manner and subject to the limitations and restrictions contained in this Section.  The district shall include two or more fire protection subdistricts.

C.  The district shall include:

(1)  The nonincorporated area of the parish, excluding any area created as an industrial area; and

(2)  The area within the corporate limits of each municipality which concurs in being included in the district.

D.  Subject to this Section, the district shall be a political subdivision within the meaning of the laws of the state relating to voting and levying of special maintenance taxes, and service charges or fees, incurring debt, and issuing bonds therefor, including but not limited to the provisions of Subtitle II, Chapter 4, of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

E.(1)  Notice of intention to create the district shall be ordered by resolution of the parish governing authority only if concurred in, by resolution, by the municipal governing authority of each municipality to be included in the district.  The resolution shall state the boundaries proposed for the district and the boundaries proposed for the subdistricts.  The notice shall state that the parish governing authority shall, in open session, on a day and at an hour and place named, proceed to create the proposed district.

(2)  This notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks, the first publication being not less than fifteen days before the date fixed for the hearing, in the parish's official journal.

F.(1)  At the place and time specified in the notice provided for in Subsection E, the parish governing authority shall hold a public hearing concerning the creation of the proposed district and the proposed boundaries of the subdistricts.  At this hearing, the parish governing authority may change the boundaries of the proposed subdistricts.

(2)  After the hearing, the parish governing authority may adopt an ordinance creating the district and fixing the boundaries of each subdistrict.

(3)  The ordinance shall:

(a)  Contain the method or formula by which the district's revenues shall be allocated to the subdistricts for fire protection purposes.

(b)  Provide that any subsequent revision of the method or formula of allocation, or termination thereof, shall occur only upon adoption of an ordinance setting forth the proposed action by the parish governing authority and upon concurrence, by resolution, of the governing authority of each municipality included in the district.

(c)  Provide that the entire area of any municipality within the district shall be included within one subdistrict.

(d)  Provide that any area annexed by a municipality, which is included in the district, that is not within the same subdistrict as the annexing municipality shall be included within the same subdistrict as the municipality.  The parish governing authority shall adopt an ordinance changing the boundaries of the subdistricts only to the extent necessary to comply with this Subparagraph.

(e)  Not become effective until it has been concurred in, by resolution, by the governing authority of each municipality in the district.

(4)  Thereafter, notice of the formation of the district and the subdistricts shall be given immediately by one publication in the parish's official journal.

G.(1)  The district shall be governed by a board of commissioners consisting of one representative of each subdistrict appointed by the governing body of the subdistrict.  Each subdistrict representative on the board shall be a resident of the subdistrict and may be a member of the governing body of the subdistrict.

(2)  Each board member shall serve at the pleasure of the governing body making the appointment.

(3)  Annually, the board shall elect a chairman and may elect such other officers as the board may deem necessary.

(4)  The board shall select a secretary and a treasurer, or a combined secretary-treasurer, who may be members of the board.

H.  The board, as governing body of the district, shall:

(1)  Fix the time and place of its regular meetings.

(2)  Deposit all funds collected or otherwise received by the district in a separate account with the board's fiscal agent and disburse such funds in accordance with law.

(3)  Allocate funds to the subdistricts as provided by ordinance.

(4)  Adopt a procedure by which a subdistrict may make application for and receive supplemental funding from the district.

(5)  Have the district's books and records audited by the legislative auditor under the provisions contained in R.S. 24:513.  The audit report shall be made available to the board, to the parish governing authority, and to the governing authority of each municipality in the district.

(6)  Prepare a budget for its operations in the ensuing year.  Upon receipt of funds sufficient to finance its budget, the board may proceed to act thereunder.

I.  The board, as governing body of the district may:

(1)  Incur debt and contract obligations.

(2)  Sue and be sued.

(3)  Accept grants or donations of any type.

(4)  Enter into contracts necessary or desirable to fund fire protection service within the district, including entering into contracts and agreements with any federal, state, or local agency or instrumentality as is necessary to procure aid and grants.

(5)  With the concurrence of the parish governing authority and the governing authority of each municipality in the district, levy a special tax of not more than ten mills on the dollar of a period of not more than ten years for the purpose of providing fire protection service within the district.  However, the resolution levying the tax shall be adopted by the board only after the question of the levy and the amount of the tax have been submitted to and approved by a majority of electors of the district voting at an election held for that purpose.  The cost of the election shall be borne by the district.

(6)(a)  With the concurrence of the parish governing authority and the governing authority of each municipality in the district, establish, by majority vote of the members of the board, a service charge or rates of service charges to be assessed persons occupying residential or nonresidential structures and persons owning unoccupied structures located wholly or partly within the district as customers of the district, subject to Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.  The service charges or rates of service charges shall be equal for all customers and shall be framed so as to cover and shall be used for the costs of fire protection service within the district.

(b)  Service charges or rates of service charges shall be assessed by resolution of the board.  However, the resolution assessing the service charges shall be adopted by the board only after the question of the assessment and the amount of the service charge or rates of service charges established have been submitted to and approved by a majority of electors of the district voting at an election held for that purpose.  The cost of the election shall be borne by the district.

(7)(a)  With the concurrence of the parish governing authority and the governing authority of each municipality in the district, levy within the district a sales and use tax not exceeding one percent, which tax may exceed the limitation set forth in Article VI, Section 29(A) of the Constitution of Louisiana.  However, the levy shall be adopted by the board only after the question of the levy and the amount of the tax have been submitted to and approved by a majority of electors of the district voting at an election held for that purpose.  The cost of the election shall be borne by the district.

(b)  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 storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and upon the sales of services within the district, all as presently or hereafter defined in R.S. 47:301 et seq.

(c)  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 the provisions of those Sections and to make said provisions applicable to the tax herein authorized shall be fixed in the resolution of the board imposing the tax.

(d)  The tax shall be imposed and collected uniformly throughout the district.

(e)  The proceeds of the tax may be used by the board for fire protection purposes within the district, but the proceeds of the tax shall be dedicated solely for the purposes approved by the electorate, including the funding of the proceeds of such tax into bonds in the manner provided by Subpart F, Part III, Chapter 4, Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, which funding may be submitted to the voters in the same proposition the tax is submitted.

(f)  The resolution imposing the tax herein authorized shall be adopted by the board only after the question of the imposition of the tax shall have been submitted to the qualified electors of the district at an election conducted in accordance with the election laws of the state and a majority of those voting in the election shall have voted in favor of the imposition of the tax.  All expenses of the election shall be borne by the district.

(8)  The board may use any necessary and proper means to collect and enforce the collection of any tax or service charge, including contracting with any political subdivision within the parish or any official or agency of the parish to effect the collection.

(9)  Adopt rules and procedures.

(10)  Do and perform all acts necessary and proper for the purpose of providing funding for fire protection service within the district.

J.  The district and any subdistrict may be revised or dissolved only in the manner and subject to the limitations and restrictions applicable to the creation of the district and the subdistricts.

K.(1)  If no municipality is included within a subdistrict, the parish governing authority shall be the governing body of the subdistrict.

(2)  If a municipality is included within a subdistrict, the governing body of the municipality shall be the governing body of the subdistrict.

(3)  The governing body of each subdistrict shall:

(a)  Fix the time and place of its regular meetings.

(b)  Deposit and maintain all funds received for the use of the subdistrict in a separate account with the governing body's fiscal agent and disburse such in accordance with law.

(c)  The subdistrict's books and records shall be audited by the legislative auditor under the provisions contained in R.S. 24:513.  The audit report shall be made available to the board, to the parish governing authority, and to the governing authority of each municipality in the district.

(d)  Prepare a budget for its operations in the ensuing year.

(4)  Upon receipt of funds sufficient to finance its budget, the governing body may proceed to act thereunder.

(5)  The governing body of each subdistrict may:

(a)  Sue and be sued.

(b)  Accept grants or donations of every type.

(c)  Enter into contracts necessary or desirable to carry out the purpose of the subdistrict, including entering into contracts and agreements with any federal, state, or local agency or instrumentality as is necessary to procure aid and grants to assist the subdistrict in carrying out the purpose for which it was created.

(d)  Adopt rules and procedures and fix the time and place of its regular meetings.

(e)  Do and perform all acts necessary and proper for the purpose of providing fire protection service within the subdistrict.

(f)  If and only if there is being levied and collected a special tax pursuant to Paragraph I(5) of this Section, a service charge pursuant to Paragraph I(6) of this Section, or a sales and use tax pursuant to Paragraph I(7) of this Section, levy a special tax of not more than ten mills on the dollar for a period of not more than ten years or the termination of all district levies and assessments, whichever occurs first, for the purpose of providing fire protection service within the subdistrict.  However, the resolution levying the tax shall be adopted by the governing body only after the question of the levy and the amount of the tax have been submitted to and approved by a majority of electors of the subdistrict voting at an election held for that purpose.  The cost of the election shall be borne by the subdistrict.

(g)(i)  If and only if there is being levied and collected a special tax pursuant to Paragraph I(5) of this Section or a service charge pursuant to Paragraph I(6) of this Section, establish, by majority vote of the members of the governing body, a service charge or rates of service charges to be assessed persons occupying residential or nonresidential structures and persons owning unoccupied structures located wholly or partly within the subdistrict as customers of the subdistrict, subject to the provisions of Subparagraph (ii) of this Subparagraph.  The service charges or rates of service charges shall be equal for all customers and shall be used for the costs of fire protection service within the subdistrict.

(ii)  Service charges or rates of service charges shall be assessed by resolution of the governing body.  However, the resolution assessing the service charges shall be adopted by the governing body only after the question of the assessment and the amount of the service charges or rates of service charges established shall have been submitted to and approved by a majority of electors of the subdistrict voting at an election held for that purpose.  The cost of the election shall be borne by the subdistrict.

(iii)  The service charge authorized pursuant to this Subparagraph shall automatically terminate upon the cessation of all district levies and assessments.

(h)  The governing body may use any necessary and proper means to collect and enforce the collection of any tax or service charge, including contracting with another political subdivision within the parish or any official of the parish to effect the collection.

L.  If any area is transferred from one subdistrict to another, whether through annexation or otherwise, the governing body of the subdistrict from which the area is taken shall continue to levy existing taxes in that area for the retirement of any outstanding tax secured or revenue-secured bonds and may continue to levy any maintenance tax or service charge previously authorized for the full period of the authorization.  However, the governing body of that subdistrict shall not thereafter levy any new maintenance tax or assess any new service charges in the area which has been transferred to another subdistrict.  If the subdistrict thereafter issues any tax secured bonds, the assessed value of that area shall not be used in computing the bonding capacity of the subdistrict and no tax shall be levied in that area for the retirement of new bonds of the subdistrict.

Acts 1990, No. 791, §1, eff. July 24, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 185, §1, eff. July 2, 1991.

{{NOTE:  SEE ACTS 1991, NO. 185, §§2-5.}}