Could Livingston Parish put its voter-approved mosquito control fee on the assessor's tax rolls?

Plain-English summary

Livingston Parish voters approved a mosquito abatement assessment of $2.50 per month, collected annually, and the parish assessor asked whether it could appear on the tax rolls. In Opinion 03-0423, the Louisiana AG said it could, if doing so helped collection and the assessor and mosquito district reached a mutually agreeable arrangement. The AG said the assessor was not required to place the fee on the rolls without that agreement.

The letter drew on the district's statutory collection authority and an earlier AG opinion about a similar fire-protection charge. It addressed a collection method, not whether the voter-approved assessment was itself valid.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2004. 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

Livingston Parish assessor

The AG said tax-roll placement was permissible, but it was not a mandatory duty. The assessor's agreement with the district was the condition it identified.

Mosquito abatement district

The AG recognized the district's authority under La. R.S. 33:7726 to use lawful collection methods for its service charge. It said the tax roll could assist collection if the assessor agreed.

Common questions

Could the mosquito fee be put on property tax rolls?

Yes. The AG said it could be carried there if that helped collection and the district and assessor agreed.

Did the assessor have to add it?

No. The opinion expressly said there was no requirement to do so absent a mutually agreeable arrangement.

What fee was the request about?

The request concerned a voter-approved $2.50 monthly assessment, described in the proposition as $30 collected annually from each covered metered electric utility customer.

Background and statutory framework

Livingston Parish voters had approved the mosquito abatement assessment. Parish Assessor Jeffrey G. Taylor asked whether the district's fee could be placed on the tax rolls. The AG quoted La. R.S. 33:7726 on a mosquito district's power to levy service charges and use lawful collection methods. It then applied an earlier AG opinion about placing fire protection service charges on tax rolls by agreement with an assessor.

The extract's first-page date is incomplete (JAN 0 2004), so this page gives the 2004 year without an exact issue date.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 33:7726: mosquito district service-charge and collection authority.
• La. R.S. 33:7721, et seq.: mosquito abatement district statutory framework.
• Attorney General Opinion 97-129: earlier opinion on agreed tax-roll collection of a service charge.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0423

Original opinion text

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
AI-rORNEY GENERAL
OPINION NUMBER 03-0423
JAN 0 2004 r’46-A FEES
R.S. 33:7726
Mr. Jeffrey G. Taylor
Livingston Parish Assessor
Mosquito abatement assessment fee may be
P. O. Box 307
placed on tax rolls if assessor and District agree.
Livingston, LA 70754

Dear Mr. Taylor:

You requested the opinion of this office concerning whether the assessment fee of $2.50 per month recently approved by the Livingston Parish voters and levied by the Livingston Parish Mosquito Abatement District ("the District") may be placed on the tax rolls. The assessment fee is levied pursuant to the statutory provisions pertaining to mosquito abatement districts, La. R.S. 33:7721, et seq., with the proposition stating in pertinent part as follows:

"Shall the Livingston Parish Mosquito Abatement District ... under the provisions of Article VI, Section 30 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974, La. R.S. 33:7721 et seq. and other constitutional and statutory authority as applicable, be authorized to levy and collect and adopt an Ordinance providing for such levy and collection of an assessment of $2.50 per month, to be collected annually in the amount of $30.00, on each metered electric utility customer in the Parish of Livingston ...; said assessment to be collected by the Livingston Parish Sheriff with assistance from the Livingston Parish assessor ..."

The statutory authority for the service charge is found in La. R.S. 33:7726, which provides in pertinent part as follows:

"A. A mosquito abatement district created under the provisions of this Chapter may levy and collect special taxes, including monthly service charges to customers of waterworks districts within the mosquito control district, to finance its programs. It may use legal, proper, necessary, and expedient means to collect and enforce the collection of such taxes, including the contracting with a waterworks district located within the same parish to collect a monthly service charge for mosquito control.

B. Any monthly service charge so levied shall be uniform upon the customers of the waterworks district, but each separate water meter or

Page 2

Mr. Jeffrey G. Taylor
OPINION NUMBER 03-0423
Page -2-

connection to the waterworks district’s water supply lines shall be treated as a separate customer for purposes of the service charge. The waterworks district, acting as collection agency for special taxes of the mosquito abatement district, may add the tax levied by said mosquito abatement district to the water bills of its customers..." (Emphasis added)

In Op.Atty.Gen. 97-129, a similar question was presented to this office concerning a fire protection distdct service charge assessed pursuant to a statute which provided in pertinent part: "The governing authority ... shall also have the authority to use any reasonable means to collect and enforce the collection of such service charges, including any means authorized by law for collection of taxes." This office concluded that such fire protection service charges can be carded on the tax rolls by the assessor if having the charges carried on the tax rolls would assist the fire protection distdct in its collection efforts. It was further observed that there was no requirement for the assessor to carry such service charges on the tax rolls unless a mutually agreeable arrangement could be made between the assessor and the district.

We believe that Op.Atty.Gen. 97-129 is also applicable to the situation at hand. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the $2.50 per month mosquito abatement fee of the District may be placed on the tax rolls, if such would assist the District in its collection efforts; however, there is no requirement for the service charge to be carried on the tax rolls unless a mutually agreeable arrangement can be made between you and the District.

Trusting this adequately responds to your request, we remain

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI
Attorney General

BY:
S. HESS
Assist~

CCF/MSH