Did East Baton Rouge fire districts have to reapprove and report their service fees every year like property-tax millages?

Plain-English summary

East Baton Rouge fire protection districts collected voter-approved service fees on the assessor's tax rolls. The Legislative Auditor requested annual ordinances or resolutions for those fees, as it did for ad valorem tax millages. In Opinion 03-0419, the Louisiana AG said the annual approval and reporting requirements of LSA-R.S. 47:1705 did not apply to the fire service fees imposed under LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1.

The AG classified the charges as specific taxes imposed per structure, regardless of the structure's value. It contrasted that with an ad valorem tax, which depends on property value. Placement on the tax roll did not change that classification in the AG's analysis.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. 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.

What the opinion meant at issuance

East Baton Rouge fire districts and parish officials

The AG said the districts did not have to adopt a new ordinance or resolution every year merely to satisfy LSA-R.S. 47:1705 for the fees described. That statute's annual submission rule concerned ad valorem tax recipients, while these fire charges were specific taxes.

Legislative Auditor

The opinion said LSA-R.S. 47:1705 did not require annual copies of service-fee ordinances or resolutions from these districts. It did not address every other possible reporting duty under Louisiana law.

Common questions

Did the districts need to reapprove their fire service fees each year under the property-tax statute?

No. The AG said LSA-R.S. 47:1705 did not impose annual approval for fees under LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1.

Did the districts have to send the Legislative Auditor a new fee ordinance annually?

Not under LSA-R.S. 47:1705, according to the opinion.

Why were the fees treated differently from a property-tax millage?

The AG said they were charged per residential or commercial structure without regard to assessed value. It relied on the Louisiana Supreme Court's distinction between specific and ad valorem taxes.

Did putting the fee on the assessor's tax roll make it an ad valorem tax?

The opinion addressed fees placed on those rolls and still classified them as specific taxes.

Background and statutory framework

The parish attorney asked whether a ten-year fire service fee approved by district voters had to be adopted and supplied to the Legislative Auditor again each year. The AG read LSA-R.S. 47:1705 as governing ad valorem tax ordinances, rates, and millages. It contrasted the structure-based fees authorized by LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1 and cited Acorn v. City of New Orleans, 377 So.2d 1206 (La. 1979), for the Louisiana Supreme Court's distinction between specific taxes and taxes based on property value.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 47:1705: annual ad valorem tax submission rules at issue.
• LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1: fire protection service-fee authority.
• Acorn v. City of New Orleans, 377 So.2d 1206 (La. 1979): distinction between specific and ad valorem taxes.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0419

Original opinion text

One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (22.~) 342-2090

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

DEC 0 4 2003
Opinion Number 03-0419
115 - TAXATION - Collection and enforcement against persons and property
47-A-1 FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS
LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1
Mr. Michael E. Ponder, Parish Attorney LSA-R.S. 47:1705 City of Baton Rouge
LSA-R.S. 47:1705 does not require the City-Parish of East Baton
Parish of East Baton Rouge
Rouge or its various fire protection districts to annually approve the
P. O. Box 1471
service fees imposed in accordance with LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1, or to
fumish copies of ordinances or resolutions pertaining to such service
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821
fees to the Legislative Auditor.

Dear Mr. Ponder:

This office is in receipt of your request for an Attorney General’s opinion regarding LSA- R.S. 47:1705, which requires that certain information be supplied to the assessor and legislative auditor by tax recipient agencies. Pertinently, your letter states:

"LRS 47:1705 requires all tax recipient agencies of ad valorem taxes of each parish to furnish to the Legislative Auditor the authorizing ordinances or resolutions and the tax rate to be applied to the assessed values for ad valorem tax purposes not later than June 1 of each year. Pursuant to this provision, the Legislative Auditor’s Office has requested copies of ’the current ordinance’ approving the service fees levied by fire protection districts pursuant to the authority granted by LRS 40:1502.1. These fees, which are included on the assessor’s tax rolls pursuant to 40:1502.1(E)(1), are assessed by resolution authorizing the assessment, after approval by the majority of electors in the district, for a period of ten years. Acorn v.
City of New Orleans, 377 So2d 1206 (LA 1979) draws a distinction between service fees and millages which would indicate that the fire protection district "service fees", although placed upon the tax rolls, are not millages and therefore not subject to the provisions of LRS 47:1705...However, the Legislative Auditor’s Office is taking the position that an ordinance must be adopted annually approving these fees.

In light of the nature of these ’fees’, is the City-Parish required to furnish copies annually to the Legislative Auditor’s Office and if so, is it necessary for the Council to approve these fees annually?"

With regard to information that must be provided to the Legislative Auditor, LSA-R.S.
47:1705A, provides:

Page 2

Opinion Number 03-0419
Mr. Michael E. Ponder, Parish Attorney
City of Baton Rouge
Parish of East Baton Rouge
Page -2-

"A. All tax recipient agencies of ad valorem taxes of each and every parish of the state of Louisiana, the parish of Orleans excepted, including the police jury, school board, levee district, special districts, municipalities, and all tax recipients of any nature whatsoever of ad valorem taxes, except municipalities which prepare their own tax rolls, are hereby required to furnish the assessor and the legislative auditor the authorizing ordinances or resolutions and the tax rate to be applied to the assessed values for ad valorem tax purposes not later than June 1 of each year." (Emphasis supplied).

With respect to any increased millage rates that a tax recipient body might impose without voter approval, LSA-R.S. 47:1705B requires the tax recipient body to adopt certain ordinances or resolutions. LSA-R.S. 47:1505D provides for the legislative auditor’s review of "millages levied by each tax recipient body in each year that reassessment occurs...and.., in each year in which an increase in millage is made by two-thirds vote of the total membership of the taxing authority..." in order to determine if any such millage increases are in compliance with law.1

Please be advised of the opinion of this office that LSA-R.S. 47:1705, pursuant to the language and terminology employed therein, refers and pertains only to "ad valorem taxes" levied or received by tax recipient agencies. LSA-R.S. 47:1705 does not apply to fire protection service fees collected and imposed pursuant to LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1, which as you point out, should be correctly considered to be "specific taxes".

In Acorn v. City of New Orleans, 377 So.2d 1206 (La. 1979), the Supreme Court distinguished specific taxes from ad valorem taxes, and classified a parcel fee as a "specific tax". In pertinent part, the Court stated:

"Duties are either ad valorem or specific; the former when the duty is laid in the form of a percentage on the value of the property, the latter where it is imposed as a fixed sum on each article of a class without regard to its value.

The tax under consideration is clearly not levied according to the valuation of the property taxed; it is a specific tax, and not an ad valorem tax. It is not, therefore, a millage increase upon a parish ad valorem tax, and is not regulated by other provisions of law governing ad valorem taxation."

The term "millage", as used in matters pertaining taxation, generally refers to the method used to calculate ad valorem taxes. Attorney General’s Opinion No. 95-429. (Emphasis supplied).

Page 3

Opinion Number 03-0419
Mr. Michael E. Ponder, Parish Attorney
City of Baton Rouge
Parish of East Baton Rouge
Page -3-

In our opinion, service fees imposed under authority of LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1 are ’specific taxes’ as they are imposed upon each residential or commercial structure, as defined therein, without regard to the value of the structure. In accordance with Acorn, supra, such specific taxes are "...not regulated by provisions of law governing ad valorem taxation", such as LSA-R.S. 47:1705. In answer to your specific question, LSA-R.S. 47:1705 does not require the City-Parish of East Baton Rouge, or its various fire protection districts, to annually approve the service fees imposed in accordance with LSA-R.S. 40:1502.1, or to annually furnish copies of ordinances or resolutions pertaining to such service fees to the Legislative Auditor.

We trust the foregoing to be of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we can be of assistance in other areas of the law.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

RIE ZERI~(~UE I~ARHAM stant Attorney Gene’f’al

RPI/JMZB/dam

Cc: Mr. Grover Austin, Office of Legislative Auditor