FILE: DFD
TAX AND BOND ELECTIONS AND SALES
TAX AND BOND ELECTIONS
The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board shall call elections for the public to vote on tax or bond revenue issues. Every bond, tax, or other election at which a proposition or question is to be submitted to the voters shall be held only on one of the dates set forth by state law or, upon proper application to and approval of the State Bond Commission and the Governor, on a date not otherwise provided by statute. The proposition placed on the ballot submitted to the voters in any bond election shall state the kinds and sources of revenues which shall be pledged to retire the bonds, should the proposition be successful.
Public notice of the date, time, and place of any meeting at which the School Board intends to levy, increase, or renew any ad valorem property tax or sales and use tax or authorize the calling of an election for submittal of such question to the voters shall be both published in the official journal of the School Board no more than sixty (60) days nor less than thirty (30) days before such public meeting and shall be announced to the public during the course of a public meeting no more than sixty (60) days nor less than thirty (30) days before such public meeting; and notice of such meeting shall be written and hand delivered or transmitted by email to each voting member of any governing authority of a political subdivision that is required to approve such a measure previously adopted by another governing authority and to each state senator and representative in whose district all or a portion of the political subdivision is located, no more than sixty (60) days nor less than thirty (30) days before such public meeting. Email delivery shall be made to the official email address of such voting members or legislators and to any other address provided in writing to the School Board by such a voting member or legislator.
If such a meeting is postponed or cancelled, notice of any subsequent meeting to consider taking action regarding property or sales taxes shall be published in the School Board’s official journal no less than ten (10) days before the subsequent meeting.
If consideration of or action upon the tax proposal is postponed, or if no action was taken regarding the tax proposal, then notice of any subsequent meeting to consider the tax proposal shall be published no less than ten (10) days before the subsequent meeting, unless the date, time, and place of the subsequent meeting was announced to the public during the meeting.
If, at a meeting held in accordance with above provisions, the School Board adopts such a measure, the provisions shall not apply to a subsequent meeting if the only action taken at the subsequent meeting is one which results in a change to the previously adopted measure that reduces the rate or term of the tax in the measure and thereby reduces the total amount of tax that would be collected under the measure, or substantially reduces the cost to the School Board of any bond or debt obligation to be incurred by the School Board.
On the date and at the hour and place specified in the notice of election, the School Board, in public session, shall examine and canvass the returns and declare the result of the elections. The result shall be promulgated by one publication in the official journal of the School Board and filed with the Secretary of State and the Clerk of Court.
SALE OF BONDS
If approved by the electorate, the School Board shall adopt resolutions providing for the sale and issuance of school bonds. Said issuance of bonds shall prescribe the form and fix the maturities thereof, and provide for the payment of said bonds in principal and interest.
For all bonds that are required or determined to be sold at public sale upon sealed bids after advertisement, a notice calling for bids containing the maximum amount of bonds to be offered, the source of payment therefore, and such other details as the School Board deems appropriate shall be published one time at least seven (7) clear calendar days before the date scheduled for the receipt of bids for the bonds in a newspaper of general circulation published in St. John the Baptist Parish. Another notice containing the definitive amount of bonds to be sold and such other bidding details as may be deemed appropriate by the School Board shall be published at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the date scheduled for receipt of bids for the bonds one time in either a newspaper of general circulation or a financial journal or newspaper containing a section devoted to municipal bond news published in either the cities of New Orleans, Louisiana, or New York, New York.
General obligation bonds and other bonds secured in whole or in part by ad valorem or sales taxes may be sold as provided for above or may be sold at private sale in the manner determined by the School Board, provided the issuance of any such bonds is approved by the State Bond Commission, and in the case of a private sale, is approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the members present and voting of the State Bond Commission.
New policy: September 22, 2011
Revised: October 17, 2013
Revised: April 1, 2015
Ref: Constitution of Louisiana, Art. VI, Sec. 30, Sec. 33
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§18:1281, 18:1282, 18:1283, 18:1284, 18:1285, 18:1286, 18:1293, 39:570, 39:1421, 39:1422, 39:1423, 39:1424, 39:1424.1, 39:1425, 39:1426, 39:1427, 39:1428, 39:1429, 42:19.1
Board minutes, 9-22-11, 10-17-13, 4-1-15
St. John the Baptist Parish School Board