A. There is hereby created the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, hereafter in this Chapter referred to as the “authority”, which is created as a body politic and corporate and political subdivision of the state. The territorial limits and territorial jurisdiction of the authority shall be the entire parish of Orleans, including but not limited to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center-New Orleans.

            B. The domicile of the authority shall be in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

            C. The purpose for which the authority is created is to acquire, construct, reconstruct, extend, improve, maintain, and operate projects within the city of New Orleans, subject to the zoning and other applicable ordinances of the city of New Orleans, except as to the Poydras Street Wharf and other properties under the administration of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans, in order to promote the economic growth and development of the city and its neighboring parishes.

            D.(1) As used in this Chapter, the word “project” or “projects” means one or more of any combination of convention, exhibition, and tourist facilities, including a convention center hotel with a multi-story parking garage and bridge connecting the hotel and the south end of the convention center, the “Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project”, and the necessary land, acquired by lease or purchase, site improvements, infrastructure, furnishings, machinery, equipment, and appurtenances for any such facility.

            (2) The authority may utilize its tax revenues, other income, and other revenues for the costs of the design, development, construction, furnishing, and equipping of the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project, as provided in and pursuant to any contract described in this Section or as provided in and pursuant to a cooperative endeavor agreement.

            (3) Any lease with respect to the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project shall provide for a payment in lieu of ad valorem taxes by the lessee thereof during the term of such lease; such payment shall be calculated based on the number of rooms in the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project, multiplied by the average per-room tax assessment for the prior year of the three hotels that have the highest number of rooms, that are not the subject of any ad valorem tax exemption, abatement, or other reduction, and that are located within the area of downtown New Orleans bounded on the east by Iberville Street, on the west by Calliope Street, on the north by Claiborne Avenue, and on the south by the Mississippi River, the “base rate”. Such payments shall be in the amounts as follows:

            (a) Beginning in the first calendar year after the hotel is open to the public, a payment equal to forty-five percent of the base rate.

            (b) In the second calendar year after the hotel is open to the public, a payment equal to sixty-five percent of the base rate.

            (c) In the third calendar year after the hotel is open to the public, a payment equal to eighty-five percent of the base rate.

            (d) In the fourth calendar year after the hotel is open to the public and thereafter, a payment equal to one hundred percent of the base rate.

            (4) In connection with any development by the authority, other than with respect to the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel Project, that constitutes or includes a joint project involving a private entity, whether through a lease or other public-private partnership structure, on land owned by the authority or any other tax exempt entity, the authority shall use reasonable efforts to require, in the contract of lease or other agreement, that the private entity pay ad valorem taxes on any improvements constructed in connection with such development and a payment for the applicable property calculated and paid as set forth in this Paragraph. However, in the absence of provision for such payment, the contract of lease or other agreement shall provide for an annual payment in lieu of ad valorem taxes by the private entity during the term of such lease or other agreement, such payment to be in an amount equal to the amount of ad valorem taxes which the private entity would have been obligated to pay had it been the owner of the property and improvements during the term of such lease or other agreement. The amount of each annual payment in lieu of taxes shall be the applicable ad valorem tax rate applied against the assessed value of the property and improvements, as determined by the parish assessor; however, if the parish assessor fails or refuses to determine the assessed value of the property and improvements, the amount of each annual payment in lieu of taxes shall be the applicable ad valorem tax rate applied against the appraised value of the property and improvements, as determined by a Member Appraisal Institute appraiser retained by the authority.

            (5) Any payment in lieu of ad valorem taxes as provided by this Subsection shall be paid to the local taxing authorities, through the normal collecting agency, and, to the extent they do not in the aggregate exceed the amount of ad valorem taxes that would be paid if the lessee were the owner, shall constitute statutory impositions within the meaning of La. Rev. Stat. 47:2128.

            Acts 2019, No. 172, §1.