2018 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 38 - Public Contracts, Works and Improvements
RS 38:3087.265 - Powers of the board; taxes; bonds

§3087.265. Powers of the board; taxes; bonds

A. In order to accomplish the purposes for which the district is created, the board of commissioners may:

(1) Purchase, acquire by donation, hold, sell, and convey immovable and movable property and execute such contracts as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to properly carry out the purposes for which it is created.

(2) Acquire servitudes, flowage rights, and rights of use by purchase, lease, donation, or otherwise for the district.

(3) Assist in conserving soil and water and in developing the water resources of the district. The board may cooperate with the Bodcau Soil and Water Conservation District, the Claiborne Parish Watershed District, the Dorcheat Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Webster Parish Water Management District in order to accomplish these objectives.

(4) Construct, maintain, and improve any works or improvements for the control, retention, diversion, or utilization of water and cooperate with the state Department of Transportation and Development and other state agencies in so doing; retard runoff of water and soil erosion; construct any ditch, channel improvement, dike, dam, or levee; and repair, improve, and maintain any of such improvements or structures.

(5) Employ professional and clerical personnel as may be necessary in the operation of the business of the district and fix their compensation.

(6) Levy taxes within the limitations prescribed by the constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana.

(7) Cooperate and contract with persons, firms, associations, partnerships, private corporations, political subdivisions of the state, or other public corporations, and with other local, state, and governmental agencies for the sale or use of any waters impounded by the district.

(8) Grant franchises to telephone, telegraph, cable, and electric power companies and grant franchises for the purposes of constructing gas, sewer, electricity, or other utility lines and facilities to supply the inhabitants or any person or corporation with gas, water, sewerage, and electricity, when such construction is within the district. Nothing herein shall impair the rights granted to public utilities pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 45:781.

(9) Appoint, hire, fix the compensation of, designate, and empower wardens, rangers, patrols, and such other personnel as may be deemed necessary by the board for the enforcement of such regulations as it may promulgate and adopt.

B. The district shall not be deemed to be an instrumentality of the state for purposes of Article X, Section 1(A) of the Constitution of Louisiana.

C. The board of commissioners shall have, with respect to the improvements and maintenance of the district, the advice of the Department of Transportation and Development, and it may request from time to time the assistance of the department to make such surveys, inspections, and investigations; render such reports, estimates, and recommendations; and furnish such plans and specifications as it may request.

D. The district is hereby authorized to incur debt for any lawful purpose, to issue in its name negotiable bonds or certificates of indebtedness evidencing such debt, and to provide for the security and payment thereof as follows:

(1) To issue certificates of indebtedness maturing within one year from date of issuance to evidence money borrowed in anticipation of current revenues for the administration, operation, construction, and maintenance costs and expenses of the district, which certificates shall be payable in principal and interest from any available income, revenues, fees, or taxes pledged to their payment by the district.

(2) To issue bonds in the manner provided by Article VI of the Constitution of Louisiana and by law, particularly Part III of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. Such bonds shall be payable from an ad valorem tax on all taxable property in the district sufficient to pay such bonds in principal and interest, when approved by vote of a majority in number of the qualified electors in the district voting on the proposition at an election held for that purpose. Such bonds shall be issued in the manner provided by the law pursuant to which they are being issued, and the maximum interest rate for the bonds shall be that prescribed by law. The bonds shall be issued in such amount or amounts as the board of commissioners shall determine. However, the principal amount of all such bonds outstanding as of the date of the issuance of any new bonds shall never exceed ten percent of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the district, to be ascertained by the latest assessment rolls of record in Webster Parish.

(3) To issue bonds and other debt obligations for works of public improvement as provided in Part XIII of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

Acts 2003, No. 1228, §1.