2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 45:1177 — Inspection and supervision fees; utility and carrier inspection and supervision fund

§1177.  Inspection and supervision fees; Utility and Carrier Inspection and Supervision Fund

A.(1)  Each motor carrier as defined in R.S. 45:162(10) and public utility doing business in Louisiana and subject to control and jurisdiction of the commission shall pay to the state a fee for the inspection, control, and supervision of the business service and rates of such common carrier and public utility, in addition to any and all property, franchise, license, and other taxes, and fees and charges now or hereafter fixed, assessed, or charged by law against such common carrier and public utility.  The amount of the fees shall be measured by the gross receipts of each public utility from its Louisiana intrastate business.  The amount of the fees for each motor carrier as defined in R.S. 45:162(10) shall be measured by the gross receipts of such carrier derived from those activities that are subject to the control and jurisdiction of the commission.

(2)  The fees for the first quarter gross receipts of each calendar year shall be paid on or before June thirtieth; the fees for the second quarter gross receipts shall be paid on or before September thirtieth; the fees for the third quarter gross receipts shall be paid on or before December thirty-first; and the fees for the fourth quarter gross receipts shall be paid on or before March thirty-first of the following calendar year.  The application of this schedule shall be based on and calculated according to the cumulative gross receipts beginning with the first quarter of each calendar year.  In no event shall any utility or carrier pay less than twelve dollars and fifty cents each quarter.  The fee to be paid by each common carrier, contract carrier, and public utility shall be paid quarterly as follows:

(a)  $3.18 per $1000 for the first $100,000 or less of such gross receipts.

(b)  $2.68 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $100,000 and not more than $250,000.

(c)  $2.18 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $250,000 and not more than $500,000.

(d)  $1.68 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $500,000 and not more than $750,000.

(e)  $1.43 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $750,000 and not more than $1,000,000.

(f)  $1.18 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $1,000,000 and not more than $2,000,000.

(g)  $.93 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $2,000,000 and not more than $5,000,000.

(h)  $.68 per $1000 of gross receipts in excess of $5,000,000 and not more than $10,000,000.

(i)  $.58 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $10,000,000 and not more than $25,000,000.

(j)  $.48 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $25,000,000 and not more than $100,000,000.

(k)  $.38 per $1000 of such gross receipts in excess of $100,000,000.

(3)  In no case shall the fee be less than fifty dollars annually.

(4)  Notwithstanding any provision in this Section to the contrary, the fees to be paid under the provisions of this Section on the gross receipts of a common carrier operating sightseeing passenger vehicles within the limits, and not more than ten miles therefrom, of one incorporated municipality under a municipal certificate of public convenience and necessity shall be measured only by that part of the gross receipts derived from the Louisiana intrastate business conducted outside, but not including ten miles therefrom, such municipality.

(5)  Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this Section, for an electric cooperative organized pursuant to R.S. 12:401 et seq., the gross receipts under this Section shall not include the purchased power cost paid for the purchase of wholesale power for resale, on which fees have been paid or will be paid under the provisions of this Section.

B.  Funds received by the Department of Revenue in the form of inspection and supervision fees authorized in Subsection A shall be deposited immediately upon receipt into the state treasury.  After compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and prior to monies being placed in the state general fund, an amount equal to that deposited as required by this Subsection shall be credited to a special fund hereby created in the state treasury to be known as the "Utility and Carrier Inspection and Supervision Fund".  The monies in this fund shall be used solely for the expenses of the operations of the commission, and only in the amounts appropriated by the legislature.

C.  The members of the Commission shall select an attorney for the Commission, and said attorney shall receive a salary and expenses to be fixed by the Commission and shall be payable out of the fees collected in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

D.(1)  Each gas, electric, and telephone public utility doing business in Louisiana and subject to regulation, with respect to rates and services, by the commission shall pay to the state, in addition to the fees prescribed in Subsections A and B, supplemental fees for the financing of the costs of the economics and rate analysis division and the hearing examiners division.  Such supplemental fees shall be twenty percent of the payment made by each gas, electric, and telephone utility pursuant to Subsections A and B.  This supplemental fee shall be credited to the Economics and Rate Analysis Division and Hearing Examiners Division Supplemental Fee Fund to be used by the Louisiana Public Service Commission solely to fund the activities of the economics and rate analysis division and the hearing examiners division of the commission.

(2)  If the amounts contained in the funds provided for in this Section are in excess of that necessary to fund the operations of the commission, including the economics and rate analysis division and the hearing examiners division, during a fiscal year, then that excess shall be retained in such funds subject to the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund and shall be subject to appropriations by the legislature in subsequent years.  In the event that the Utility and Carrier Inspection and Supervision Fund or the supplemental fee fund, as provided for in R.S. 45:1177.1 and also known as the "Economics and Rate Analysis Division and Hearing Examiners Division Supplemental Fee Fund", cease to exist for the purpose of their creation, the assessments therefor likewise shall cease to exist.  In the event that the economics and rate analysis division and the hearing examiner's division as both created in R.S. 45:1163.3(A) both cease to exist for the purpose of their creation, the assessments therefor, as set forth in R.S. 45:1177(D)(1), shall likewise cease to exist.

E.  For purposes of this Section, the term "telephone public utility," as used in Subsection D of this Section, shall not mean or include any person or entity that is engaged in the business of owning, operating, managing or otherwise providing commercial mobile service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 332(d), as amended. For purposes of this Section, the term "commercial mobile service" shall be interpreted in accordance with rules, regulations and decisions promulgated or issued by the Federal Communications Commission and shall include, by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, radio-telephone communications used in cellular telephone service, and the functional or competitive equivalent of a radio-telephone communications line used in cellular telephone service and personal communication service.

Acts 1962, No. 171 §§1 to 3; Acts 1970, No. 417 §1; Acts 1972, No. 469, §1; Acts 1980, No. 626, §1; Acts 1985, No. 182, §1; Acts 1985, No. 561, §2, eff. July 12, 1985; Acts 1986, No. 700, §1, eff. July 8, 1986; Acts 1990, No. 39, §1; Acts 1992, No. 871, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 1993, No. 926, §1, eff. July 1, 1994; Acts 1997, No. 385, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 710, §1, eff. July 1, 1997.