Could New Iberia use its share of a dedicated sales tax to buy a street sweeper?

Plain-English summary

New Iberia's mayor asked whether the city could buy a street sweeper with its share of a sales tax renewed by voters. The tax proposition first allocated proceeds to a parishwide mosquito-control program and then divided the balance among the parish and its municipalities for drainage facilities and specified capital improvements. The AG concluded that the city's share could not pay for a street sweeper because that purchase did not match the purposes for which the tax was levied.

The opinion relied on La. R.S. 39:704, which treated special-tax proceeds as a trust fund for the tax's stated objects. It also cited Louisiana decisions requiring strict construction of special-tax authorizations. Its answer was confined to this proposition and this proposed purchase.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. 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.

Historical summary

New Iberia officials

The AG read the voter-approved proposition as limiting municipal spending to drainage facilities and the capital improvements it described. A street sweeper fell outside those stated purposes. The opinion therefore rejected using this tax revenue for that purchase.

Parish and municipal finance officers

The opinion treated the revenue as restricted by the proposition, not as money available for any useful city equipment. Its cited statute required special-tax proceeds to be used exclusively for the objects and purposes for which the tax was levied.

Common questions

Could New Iberia buy a street sweeper with this sales tax revenue?

No. The AG said that use did not fit the objects and purposes approved by voters in the tax proposition.

What could municipalities use their share for under the proposition?

The opinion identified constructing, acquiring, or improving drainage facilities and funding the capital improvements described in the proposition. It did not authorize a broader equipment purchase.

Why did the ballot language control the answer?

The AG cited La. R.S. 39:704's rule that special-tax proceeds form a trust fund to be used only for the tax's stated purposes. It read the proposition strictly.

Background and statutory framework

The quoted proposition earmarked the first part of the proceeds for a parishwide mosquito-control program. The balance was divided annually on a per-capita basis between the parish and incorporated municipalities for drainage facilities, with authority to fund their proceeds into bonds for those capital improvements. The scanned extract renders the sales-tax fraction unclearly; the opinion's conclusion did not depend on that fraction.

Citations

• La. R.S. 39:704: special-tax proceeds restricted to the purposes for which the tax was levied.
• La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 12-0089 and 09-0150: earlier opinions the AG cited on voter-approved uses of sales and use taxes.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0001

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

~tat.e of Ifiouisiatta
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL

APR 3 0 2013
Opinion 13-0001

Hon. Hilda D. Curry
90-A-1 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS

Mayor, New Iberia
La. Rev. Stat. 39:704
457 East Main Street
The City of New Iberia may not use certain sales tax proceeds to
Suite 300
purchase a street sweeper.
New Iberia, LA 70560-3700

Dear Mayor Curry:

Your opinion request has been assigned to me for research and reply. You have asked for our opinion as to whether certain sales tax proceeds may be used to purchase a street sweeper for the City of New Iberia. According to your request, the proposition that gives rise to the sales tax proceeds reads as follows:

"PROPOSITION (SALES TAX RENEWAL)

SUMMARY: AUTHORITY TO RENEW A %% SALES TAX FOR 10 YEARS WITH THE PROCEEDS TO BE USED AS FOLLOWS:(1) TO PAY THE COST OF MAINTAINING AND OPERATING A PARISHWIDE MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAM, INCLUDING THE COST OF ACQUIRING LAND, BUILDINGS, AND EQUIPMENT NECESSARY IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; AND (2) THE BALANCE OF THE PROCEEDS TO BE DIVIDED ANNUALLY ON OR BEFORE MAY 1ST OF EACH YEAR,
BETWEEN THE PARISH AND THE
INCORPORATED
MUNICIPALITIES OF THE PARISH ON A PER CAPITA BASIS ACCORDING TO THE 2000 U.S. CENSUS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING, ACQUIRING AND IMPROVING DRAINAGE FACILITIES; WITH AUTHORITY TO FUND THEIR RESPECTIVE PROCEEDS INTO BONDS FOR PAYING THE COST OF THE AFORESAID CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS."

Louisiana law provides that the proceeds of any special tax shall constitute a trust fund to be used exclusively for the objects and purposes for which the tax was levied. La. R.S. 39:704. Additionally, Louisiana jurisprudence provides that special tax authorizations must be strictly construed. Police Jury of the Parish of Acadia v. All Taxpayers, et a/., 95-145 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 3/29/95), 653 So.2d 94,

Page 2

Opinion 13-0001
Mayor Hilda Curry
Page -2­

rehearing denied; Hemler v. Richland Parish School Board, 76 So. 585 (La. 1917); Watkins v. Ouachita Parish School Board, 136 So. 591 (La. 1931); Hodnett v. Monroe City School Board, 277 SO.2d 598 (La. App. 2nd Cir. 1972) and Brock v. Sf. James Parish Council, 407 SO.2d 1265 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1981), writ denied. It has consistently been the opinion of this office that sale and use tax proceeds must be used solely for the purposes approved by the voters. La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 12-0089,09-0150.

Our reading of the tax proposition at issue reveals that incorporated municipalities, such as the City of New Iberia, may only use the sales tax proceeds to construct, acquire or improve its drainage. facilities or otherwise pay for capital improvements. Accordingly, using the sales tax proceeds to purchase a street sweeper would not be a use that comports with the objects and purposes for which the tax was levied. As such, the City of New Iberia may not use the sales tax proceeds to make such a purchase.

We trust this adequately responds to your request. However, if our office can be of further assistance, please do not hesit~~e to contact us.
. . ~~.
. y?urs very truly,

• UDDY" CALDWELL
II

EY ENERAL

BY:

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