Who controlled Allen Parish’s capital improvements fund and what could it pay for?

Plain-English summary

A state representative asked whether Allen Parish’s capital improvements fund came from state or parish taxes, what it could finance, and whether the police jury chose projects. The AG said designated state sales tax proceeds flowed into the state treasury fund without a parish ordinance or police jury action. Subject to annual legislative appropriation, the money had to be used first for courthouse capital improvements and then for capital improvements to other public property in Allen Parish. The Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board, rather than the police jury, administered and distributed the money for those purposes.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Was the fund raised by a parish ordinance?
No. The opinion identified the receipts as state sales tax proceeds directed to the fund by state law.

Did the courthouse have priority?
Yes. The cited statute directed fund use first to courthouse capital improvements, then to other public-property capital improvements in Allen Parish.

Who selected the projects?
The AG identified the Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board as the body administering and distributing the fund, not the police jury.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion reviewed Act 800 of 1997 and the renumbered state sales tax provisions, including R.S. 47:302.36. It emphasized legislative appropriation and the statute’s definition of capital improvements.

Citations and references

• The constitutional and statutory provisions discussed appear in the reproduced opinion below.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0127

Original opinion text

One American Place
301 Main Street, State 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P O Box 94005
CIVIl DIVISION
TEL (225) 342-7013
FAX’ (225) 342-2090
BATON ROUGE
RICHARD P IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

OPINION NUMBER 02-0127
MAY 0 3ZOOZ

3
APPROPRIATIONS
90-A-2 PUBLIC FUNDS - Loan, Pledge or Grants

R.S. 47:302.36; R.S. 47:322.7; R.S. 47:322.28 Honorable Herman Ray Hill
Funds in Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund are a portion of the
State Representative
State sales tax collected in Allen Parish and are only to be used for capital
District 32
improvements as determined by the Allen Padsh Capital Improvement
529 Tramel Road
Board.

Dry Creek, Louisiana 70637

Dear Rep. Hill:

You requested the opinion of this office concerning several questions arising from Act No.
800 of the 1997 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature ("Act 800"). As you noted, Act 800 contains provisions which apply to Allen Parish and to Beauregard Parish. Your questions, and our answers, only pertain to Allen Parish.

Act 800 enacted R.S. 47:302.31, 47:322.1 and 47:322.25 relative to the state sales tax on hotel occupancy. Pursuant to its authority, the Louisiana State Law Institute redesignated the statutes amended in Act 80 and R.S. 47:302.31 is now R.S. 47:302.36, R.S. 47:322.1 is now R.S. 47:322.7 and R.S. 47:322.25 is now R.S. 47:322.28. Those statutes, as amended by Act 800, provide as follows:

§ 302.36. Disposition of certain collections in Allen Parish

A. The avails of the tax imposed by this Chapter from the sale of services as defined in R.S. 47:301(14)(a) in Allen Parish under the provisions of R.S. 47:302(C) shall be credited to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all of the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become clue and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay the remainder of such funds into a special fund which is hereby created in the state treasury and designated as the "Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund".

B. The monies in the Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund shall be subject to annual appropriation by the legislature. The monies in the fund shall be used solely and exclusively in Allen Parish first for capital improvements to the parish courthouse and then for capital improvements to public property in Allen Parish. All unexpended and

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unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall remain in the fund. Monies in the fund shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as the monies in the state general fund, and all interest earned shall be deposited in the state general fund.

C. For the purposes of this Section, "capital improvements" shall mean expenditures for the renovation of the Allen Parish courthouse and for acquiring lands, buildings, equipment, or other permanent properties, or for their construction, renovation, preservation, maintenance, or improvement, or for payment of principal, interest, or premium, if any, and other obligations incident to the issuance, security, and payment of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness associated therewith.

D. The monies paid into the Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund shall be administered and distributed by the Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board which is hereby created. The monies shall be distributed as provided by the board for furtherance of the purposes of this Section. The Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board shall consist of the state senators and representatives who represent all or a portion of Allen Parish, the president of the Allen Parish Police Jury, director of the Allen Parish Tourist Commission, and the Allen Parish sheriff. (Emphasis added)

§ 322.7. Disposition of certain collections in Allen Parish

The avails of the tax imposed by R.S. 47:321 from the sale of services as defined in R.S. 47:301(14)(a) in Allen Parish under the provisions of R.S. 47:321(C) and 322 shall be credited to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all of the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay the remainder of such monies into the Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund created pursuant to R.S. 47:302.36. The monies in the fund shall be used in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:302.36. (Emphasis added)

§ 332.28. Disposition of certain collections in Allen Parish

The avails of the tax imposed by R.S. 47:331 from the sale of services as defined in R.S. 47:301(14)(a) in Allen Parish under the provisions of R.S.
47:331(C) and 332 shall be credited to the Bond Security and Redemption

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Fund and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all of the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay the remainder of such monies into the Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund created pursuant to R.S. 47:302.36. The monies in the fund shall be used in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:302.36. (Emphasis added)

Your first question is: Is the revenue raised under the provisions of Act No. 800 raised under the authority of a state law or is that revenue raised under the authority of a parish ordinance?

As quoted above, the statutes enacted by Act 800 refer to the taxes imposed pursuant to R.S. 47:302(C), R.S. 47:321 and R.S. 47:331. These three statutes are the statutory citations for the imposition of sales taxes by the State of Louisiana. Under Act 800, the amount of State sales taxes derived from the sale of services in Allen Parish collected pursuant to R.S. 47:302(C), R.S. 47:321(C) and 322 and R.S. 47:331(C) and 332 are deposited into a special fund created in the state treasury and designated as the "Allen Parish Capital Improvements Fund" (the "Fund"). No action is required or necessary by the Allen Parish Police Jury in order for the State sales taxes to be deposited into the Fund.

Your second question is "What are the purposes for which that revenue may be expended?"

As stated above in R.S. 47:302.36(B), the monies in the Fund are subject to legislative appropriation only for the following purposes:

"The monies in the fund shall be used solely and exclusively in Allen Parish first for capital improvements to the parish courthouse and then for capital improvements to public property in Allen Parish.

"Capital improvements" is defined in R.S. 47:302.36(C) to mean: "expenditures for the renovation of the Allen Parish courthouse and for acquiring lands, buildings, equipment, or other permanent properties, or for their construction, renovation, preservation, maintenance, or improvement, or for payment of principal, interest, or premium, if any, and other obligations incident to the issuance, security, and payment of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness associated therewith."

Monies deposited into the Fund pursuant to R.S. 47:322.7 and R.S. 47:332.28 are subject to the same uses as set forth in R.S. 47:302.36.

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Rep. Herman Ray Hill
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Your final question is: "Are the specific projects on which that revenue will be expended determined by the Allen Parish Capitol Improvements Board or by the Allen Parish police Jury?"

As is clearly stated in R.S. 47:322.36(D), the monies paid into the Fund shall be administered and distributed by the Allen Parish Capital Improvement Board, which is created in R.S. 47:322.36 and not by the Allen Parish Police Jury.

Trusting this adequately responds to your request, we remain

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:

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