Opinion ID: 1124099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Enumeration of Exemptions From Ad Valorem Taxes

Text: (A) Public lands; other public property used for public purposes. (B) (1)(a) Property owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for religious, dedicated places of burial, charitable, health, welfare, fraternal, or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or member thereof and which is declared to be exempt from federal or state income tax; and (b) property leased to such a nonprofit corporation or association for use solely as housing for homeless persons, as defined by regulation adopted by the tax commission or its successor provided that the term of such lease shall be for at least five years, that as a condition of entering into the lease the property be in compliance with all applicable health and sanitation codes for use as housing for homeless persons, that the lease shall provide that compensation to be paid the lessor shall not exceed one dollar per year, and that such contract of lease shall recite that the property shall be used exclusively for the purpose of housing the homeless, and further provided that at such time as the property is no longer used solely as housing for homeless persons, the property shall no longer be exempt from taxation; (2) property of a bona fide labor organization representing its members or affiliates in collective bargaining efforts; and (3) property of an organization such as a lodge or club organized for charitable and fraternal purposes and practicing the same, and property of a nonprofit corporation devoted to promoting trade, travel, and commerce, and also property of a trade, business, industry or professional society or association, if that property is owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized under the laws of this state for such purposes. None of the property listed in Paragraph (B) shall be exempt if owned, operated, leased, or used for commercial purposes unrelated to the exempt purposes of the corporation or association. (C) (1) Cash on hand or deposit; (2) stocks and bonds, except bank stocks, the tax on which shall be paid by the banking institution; (3) obligations secured by mortgage on property located in Louisiana and the notes or other evidence thereof; (4) loans by life insurance companies to policyholders, if secured solely by their policies; (5) the legal reserve of domestic life insurance companies; (6) loans by a homestead or building and loan association to its members, if secured solely by stock of the association; (7) debts due for merchandise or other articles of commerce or for services rendered; (8) obligations of the state or its political subdivisions; (9) personal property used in the home or on loan in a public place; (10) irrevocably dedicated places of burial held by individuals for purposes of burial of themselves or members of their families; (11) agricultural products while owned by the producer, agricultural machinery and other implements used exclusively for agricultural purposes, animals on the farm, and property belonging to an agricultural fair association; (12) property used for cultural, Mardi Gras carnival, or civic activities and not operated for profit to the owners; (13) rights-of-way granted to the State Department of Highways; (14) boats using gasoline as motor fuel; (15) commercial vessels used for gathering seafood for human consumption; and (16) ships and oceangoing tugs, towboats, and barges engaged in international trade and domiciled in Louisiana ports. However, this exemption shall not apply to harbor, wharf, shed, and other port dues or to any vessel operated in the coastal trade of the states of the United States. (17) Materials, boiler fuels, and energy sources used by public utilities to fuel the generation of electricity. (D) (1) Raw materials, goods, commodities, and articles imported into this state from outside the states of the United States: (a) so long as the imports remain on the public property of the port authority or docks of the common carrier where they first entered this state; (b) so long as the imports (other than minerals and ores of the same kind as any mined or produced in this state and manufactured articles) are held in this state in the original form in bales, sacks, barrels, boxes, cartons, containers, or other original packages, and raw materials held in bulk as all or a part of the new material inventory of manufacturers or processors, solely for manufacturing or processing; or (c) so long as the imports are held by an importer in any public or private storage in the original form in bales, sacks, barrels, boxes, cartons, containers, or other original packages and agricultural products in bulk. This exemption shall not apply to these imports when held by a retail merchant as part of his stock-in-trade for sale at retail. (2) Raw materials, goods, commodities, and other articles being held on the public property of a port authority, on docks of any common carrier, or in a warehouse, grain elevator, dock, wharf, or public storage facility in this state for export to a point outside the states of the United States. (3) Goods, commodities, and personal property in public or private storage while in transit through this state which are moving in interstate commerce through or over the territory of the state or which are in public or private storage within Louisiana, having been shipped from outside Louisiana for storage in transit to a final destination outside Louisiana, whether such destination was specified when transportation began or afterward. Property described in Paragraph (D), whether or not entitled to exemption, shall be reported to the proper taxing authority on the forms required by law. (E) Motor vehicles used on the public highways of this state, from state, parish, and special ad valorem taxes. This exemption shall not extend to any general or special tax levied by a municipal governing authority, or by a district created by it, unless the governing authority thereof provides for the exemption by ordinance or resolution. (F) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Section, the State Board of Commerce and Industry or its successor, with the approval of the governor, may enter into contracts for the exemption from ad valorem taxes of a new manufacturing establishment or an addition to an existing manufacturing establishment, on such terms and conditions as the board, with the approval of the governor, deems in the best interest of the state. The exemption shall be for an initial term of no more than five calendar years, and may be renewed for an additional five years. All property exempted shall be listed on the assessment rolls and submitted to the Louisiana Tax Commission or its successor, but no taxes shall be collected thereon during the period of exemption. The terms manufacturing establishment and addition as used herein mean a new plant or establishment or an addition or additions to any existing plant or establishment which engages in the business of working raw materials into wares suitable for use or which gives new shapes, qualities or combinations to matter which already has gone through some artificial process. (G) Coal or lignite stockpiled in Louisiana for use in Louisiana for industrial or manufacturing purposes or for boiler fuel, gasification, feedstock, or process purposes. (H) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this constitution, the State Board of Commerce and Industry or its successor, with the approval of the governor and the local governing authority and in accordance with procedures and conditions provided by law, may enter into contracts granting to a property owner, who proposes the expansion, restoration, improvement, or development of an existing structure or structures in a downtown, historic, or economic development district established by a local governing authority or in accordance with law, the right for an initial term of five years after completion of the work to pay ad valorem taxes based upon the assessed valuation of the property for the year prior to the commencement of the expansion, restoration, improvement, or development. Contracts may be renewed, subject to the same conditions, for an additional five years extending such right for a total of ten years from completion of the work. (I) (1) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Section, the authority or district charged with economic development of each parish is hereby authorized to enter into contracts for the exemption from parish, municipal, and special ad valorem taxes of goods held in inventory by distribution centers. In the absence of the existence of an economic development authority or district, the parish governing authority is authorized to grant contracts of exemption as are provided for in this Paragraph. (2) The contract for exemption shall be on such terms and to the extent, up to and including the full assessed valuation of the goods held in inventory, as the economic development authority or district deems in the best interest of the parish. However, prior to entering into each individual contract, the economic development authority or district must request and receive written approval of the contract, including its terms and an estimated fiscal impact, from each affected tax recipient body in the parish, as evidenced by a favorable vote of a majority of the members of the governing authority of the tax recipient body. Failure to receive all required approvals from the tax recipient bodies before entering into a contract shall render the contract null and void and of no effect. (3) The term distribution center as used herein means an establishment engaged in the sale of products for resale or further processing for resale. The term goods held in inventory as used herein means goods or products which have been given new shapes, qualities, or combinations through some artificial process and does not include raw materials such as natural gas, crude oil, sulphur, or timber or goods or products held for sale to consumers.