§4710.15. Additional hotel occupancy tax authorized

            A.(1)(a) In order to provide funds for the purposes of the authority, the authority may levy and collect a tax upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located within the parish of Orleans. The tax shall be in the amount of one percent of the rent or fee charged for such occupancy. The tax shall be in addition to all taxation upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located in the parish of Orleans.

            (b) The word "hotel" as used in this Chapter means and includes any establishment that is engaged in the business of furnishing or providing rooms intended or designed for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping purposes to transient guests and that consists of ten or more guest rooms. "Hotel" does not include any hospital, convalescent or nursing home or sanitarium, or hotel-like facility operated by or in connection with a hospital or medical clinic providing rooms exclusively for patients and their families.

            (c) The tax shall be paid by the person who exercises or is entitled to occupancy of the hotel room and shall be paid at the time the rent or fee for occupancy is paid. "Person" as used in this Chapter shall have the same definition as that contained in R.S. 47:301(8).

            (d) The tax shall not apply to the rent for a hotel room rented to the same occupant for a period of thirty or more consecutive calendar days, nor shall it apply to hotel rooms rented for less than three dollars a day.

            (2) The authority shall impose the tax by resolution adopted by the board, which may provide in the resolution necessary and appropriate rules and regulations for the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax. The resolution levying and imposing the hotel occupancy tax may not be adopted by the board and no immovable property or leasehold interest may be acquired and no obligation to acquire any immovable property or leasehold interest may be incurred by the authority unless prior thereto the governing authority of the city of New Orleans approves the levy of such tax by a favorable vote of a majority of the members thereof and the question of or proposition to authorize the levy of the tax and the funding of avails thereof into bonds is submitted to the electors of the city at an election called, conducted, canvassed, and promulgated by the governing authority of the city, in accordance with the laws of Louisiana governing the conduct of elections, to authorize the issuance of bonds and the levying of taxes, and a majority of those electors voting in such election have voted in favor of the question or proposition to impose the tax and fund the avails thereof into bonds.

            (3) The authority may contract with the state of Louisiana or the city for the collection of the tax, which tax may be collected in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as the hotel occupancy tax being imposed by the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District on hotels located in the city of New Orleans.

            B.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter or other law to the contrary, in order to provide funds for the purposes of the authority, the authority may levy and collect a tax upon the occupancy of hotel rooms located within the parish of Orleans. The tax shall be in the amount of one percent of the rent or fee charged for such occupancy. The tax authorized by this Subsection shall be levied and collected in lieu of the tax authorized by Subsection A of this Section, and at no time shall the authority collect taxes pursuant to both authorizations. The proceeds of the tax levied pursuant to this Subsection are subject to any and all pledges of the proceeds of the tax authorized by Subsection A of this Section.

            (2) The authority shall impose the tax by resolution adopted by the board, which may provide in the resolution necessary and appropriate rules and regulations for the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax.

            (3) The proceeds of the tax, after paying reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the tax, shall be used for the purposes of providing funds to acquire, construct, reconstruct, extend, improve, maintain, and operate convention, exhibition, and tourist facilities and projects within the parish of Orleans in order to promote the economic growth and development of the parish. The authority may fund the proceeds of the tax into bonds to be issued in series from time to time by the authority for the purpose of defraying the costs of the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, extension, or improvement of any one or more or any combination of convention, exhibition, and tourist facilities and projects, and the necessary furnishings, machinery, equipment, and appurtenances thereof, to the extent and in the manner permitted by the laws of this state, including particularly this Chapter.

            (4) The authority may contract with the state of Louisiana or the city, or both, for the collection of the tax, which tax may be collected in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as the hotel occupancy tax now being imposed by the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District on hotels located in the city of New Orleans.

            (5) The authority to levy and collect the tax authorized by this Subsection shall terminate upon payment in full of all bonds or other similar debt obligations of the authority payable in whole or in part from or secured by such tax and issued before July 1, 2029.

            Acts 2019, No. 172, §1.