§338.86. Lafayette Parish School Board; use of sales and use tax proceeds; issuance of bonds

            A. In the event the parish school board of the Parish of Lafayette, state of Louisiana (herein referred to as "Lafayette Parish School Board" or "board") should find and determine, after such investigation and study as it deems appropriate, that the anticipated avails or proceeds of the one per cent sales and use tax which might be levied pursuant to R.S. 47:338.84 would be in excess of its requirements for the purposes for which the tax is authorized to be levied by R.S. 47:338.84, the board may allocate a portion of the future avails or proceeds of said tax to be dedicated and expended for capital improvements, including the acquisition of lands for building sites and playgrounds, purchasing, erecting and improving school buildings and related facilities, and acquiring the necessary equipment and furnishings therefor, title to which shall be in the public. The formula or method of allocating the avails or proceeds of the tax for capital improvements and the purposes stated in R.S. 47:338.84 shall be set forth in the question or proposition which must be submitted to the qualified electors of the parish of Lafayette prior to the imposition of the tax in compliance with the requirements of R.S. 47:338.84. In addition, said question or proposition may also include provisions authorizing the issuance of bonds in the manner and within the limitations hereinafter set forth. The proposition approved at the election shall constitute a full and complete dedication of the avails or proceeds of said tax (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "tax revenues") and its provisions shall control the expenditure thereof. In the event the tax is so voted, the board shall have complete authority to levy and collect the tax within the parish of Lafayette and to provide for all procedural details necessary in the imposition, collection and enforcement thereof. All reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of administration and collection of the tax shall be paid from the tax revenues.

            B.(1) Subject to the approval at an election as required in Subsection A of this Section, the Lafayette Parish School Board may fund the tax revenues into bonds in the manner herein provided. In order to obtain funds for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of any capital improvement on which the tax revenues may be expended, the board may issue bonds payable solely from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of the avails or proceeds of the tax, subject only to the prior payment of the costs and expenses of administration and collection of the tax; provided, however, the bonds shall not be issued if the principal and interest maturities on all such bonds then outstanding and those proposed to be issued will require in any year in excess of fifty percent of the avails or proceeds of the tax estimated by the board to be collected in the calendar year during which the bonds are to be issued.

            (2) The Lafayette Parish School Board shall, by resolution, fix the form, maturities, and terms of the bonds and the rate or rates of interest, with a term not to exceed forty years. The maturities of the bonds shall be so arranged that the total amount of principal and interest falling due in any year, together with principal and interest falling due in such year on all bonds theretofore issued hereunder and then outstanding, shall never exceed fifty percent of the amount of sales tax revenues estimated by the parish school board to be received by it in the calendar year during which the bonds are issued.

            (3) Bonds issued hereunder shall constitute a borrowing solely upon the credit of the sales and use tax revenues received or to be received by the board, and shall not constitute an indebtedness or pledge of the general credit of the parish or the board within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision relating to the incurring of indebtedness, and the bonds shall contain a recital to that effect.

            (4) Bonds issued hereunder shall be payable solely from and secured by an irrevocable pledge and dedication of such part of the sales tax revenues as may be pledged thereto in the authorizing resolution. Any holder of any of such bonds may by suit, action, mandamus or other proceedings, enforce and compel performance of all duties required to be performed by the board as a result of issuing the bonds, and may similarly enforce the provisions of the ordinance imposing the tax and the resolution and proceedings authorizing the issuance of such bonds.

            (5) The board may in any resolution authorizing such bonds provide for the respective priorities of its separate blocks, series, or issues of bonds issued hereunder, and may provide for the issuance of additional bonds in the future on a parity therewith pursuant to such procedure or restrictions as may be specified in such resolution. In the absence of such provision, if more than one series of bonds shall be issued hereunder payable from the same sales tax revenues, priority of lien on such revenues shall depend on the time of the delivery of such bonds, each series enjoying a lien prior and superior to that enjoyed by any series of bonds subsequently delivered, except that as to any issue or series of bonds which may be authorized as a unit but delivered from time to time in blocks, the board may in the proceedings authorizing the issuance of such bonds provide that all of the bonds of such series or issue shall be co-equal as to lien regardless of the time of delivery, provided that nothing herein stated shall vest in any holder of bonds any right of lien or priority of any kind against any part of the sales and use tax revenues not pledged to the payment of the bonds by the proceedings authorizing the issuance thereof.

            (6) When any bonds shall have been issued hereunder neither the legislature, the board, nor any other authority may discontinue or decrease the tax or permit to be discontinued or decreased the tax in anticipation of the collection of which such bonds have been issued, or in any way make any change in the allocation and dedication of the proceeds of such tax which would diminish the amount of the sales and use tax revenues to be received by the board, until all of such bonds shall have been retired as to principal and interest, and there is hereby vested in the holders from time to time of such bonds a contract right in the provisions of this Section.

            (7) Any resolution may contain such covenants with the future holder or holders of the bonds as to the sales and use tax revenues, the disposition of such revenues, the issuance of future bonds, and such other pertinent matters as may be deemed necessary by the parish school board to assure the marketability of such bonds, provided such covenants are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Section.

            (8) Any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds hereunder may contain such provisions to assure the enforcement, collection, and proper application of the sales and use tax revenues as the board may think proper, where not inconsistent with the provisions of this Section, and when any bonds payable from the tax revenues shall have been issued, this Section, the ordinance of the board imposing the tax and pursuant to which the tax is being collected, and the obligation of the board to continue to levy, collect, and allocate the tax, and to apply the revenues derived therefrom in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance, shall be irrevocable until such bonds have been paid in full as to principal and interest, and shall not be subject to amendment in any manner which would impair the rights of the holders from time to time of such bonds or which would in any way jeopardize the prompt payment of principal thereof or interest thereon.

            (9) The proceeds derived from the sale of bonds issued hereunder shall be used exclusively by the board for the purpose or purposes for which the bonds are authorized to be issued but the purchasers of the bonds shall not be obligated to see to the application thereof.

            (10) Before bonds are issued hereunder, the parish school board shall investigate and determine the regularity of the proceedings. The resolution authorizing the bonds may direct that they contain the following recital:

            "It is certified that this bond is authorized by and is issued in conformity with the requirements of the constitution and statutes of this state."

            Such recital shall be deemed to be an authorized declaration of the board and to import that there is constitutional and statutory authority for issuing the bonds and imposing the tax; that all the proceedings therefor are regular; that all acts, conditions and things required to exist, happen, and be performed precedent to and in the issuance of the bonds and imposition of the tax have existed, have happened and have been performed in due time, form, and manner as required by law; that the amount of the bonds, together with all other indebtedness of the board does not exceed any limit or limits prescribed by the constitution or statutes of this state; and that the required notices have been duly and regularly given by publication in the manner required by law. If any bonds are issued containing the above recital, the same shall be construed according to the import herein declared, and it shall be conclusively presumed that the recital is true, and neither the board nor any taxpayer shall be permitted to question the validity or regularity of the bonds, obligations or tax in any court or in any action or proceeding.

            (11) After the time within which the validity of the bonds may be contested has elapsed, that is, thirty days from the date of publication of the resolution authorizing the bonds and pledging and dedicating the sales tax revenues, the bonds shall be registered with the Secretary of State without charge and shall have endorsed thereon the words:

            "Incontestable. Secured by a pledge and dedication of a sales and use tax in the Parish of Lafayette, Louisiana. Registered this _____ day of __________, 20___.

_____________________________

SECRETARY OF STATE"

All bonds issued under the provisions of this Section and the interest thereon shall be exempt from taxation. The bonds may be used for deposit with any officer, board, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state of Louisiana in any case where deposit of security is required.

            (12) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section or any other law to the contrary, any bonds issued pursuant to this Section shall also be subject to the provisions of Chapters 13 and 13-A of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

            (13) Bonds issued hereunder shall not be invalid for any irregularity or defect in the proceedings for the issuance and sale thereof and shall be incontestable in the hands of bona fide purchasers or holders for value.

            (14) The resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds hereunder and pledging and dedicating sales and use tax revenues to the payment thereof shall be recorded in the mortgage records of the parish of Lafayette and shall be published in one issue of the official journal of the board. For a period of thirty days from the date of the publication of the resolution, any person in interest may contest the legality of the bonds provided for or the tax, the proceeds of which are so pledged and dedicated, for any cause after which time no one shall have any cause or right of action to contest the legality, formality, or regularity of the proceedings, the tax, or bond authorization, for any cause whatsoever. If the question of the validity of any proceedings, tax, or bond authorization provided for under the provisions of this Section is not raised within the thirty days, the authority to issue the bonds, the regularity thereof, the validity of the tax or portion thereof pledged and dedicated to provide for the payment of principal and interest, and the enforceability of the pledge thereof, shall be conclusively presumed, and no court may inquire into such matters. If any resolution is adopted or proceedings had more than thirty days after the publication of the resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds hereunder and pledging and dedicating any of the sales tax revenues, such supplemental resolution or proceedings shall be similarly published, and no contest, action, or proceeding to question the validity or legality of such supplemental resolution or proceedings shall be begun in any court by any person for any cause whatsoever after the expiration of thirty days from the date on which such supplemental resolution or proceeding is published.

            Added by Acts 1965, No. 94, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 33:2737.2 pursuant to Acts 2011, No. 248, §4; Acts 2017, No. 174, §1, eff. June 12, 2017.