Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.52

  • Capital costs: means all costs of providing a service that are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Covered services: means telecommunications services, advanced services and cable television services, individually and collectively, and regardless of the technology used to provide those services, unless otherwise specified in this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Enterprise fund: means a separate fund to account for the local government's operations of covered services, established and maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as described by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Local governing authority: means the legislative body of a local government. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Local government: means any parish, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state and any utility authority, board, branch, department or other unit thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Start-up costs: means those costs reasonably and prudently incurred by the local government (including legal and professional services) in obtaining the feasibility study required under this Chapter, in seeking to obtain assent of the financial market place for funding the proposed project, and other related costs through the closing of the sale of the bonds or other financing vehicles supporting the provisioning of covered services, and specifically excludes capital costs as defined herein. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43
  • Subscribers: means a person that lawfully receives a covered service. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:844.43

A.  The local governing authority may by resolution determine to issue one or more bonds to finance the capital costs for facilities necessary to provide to subscribers one or more covered services.

B.  The resolution shall:

(1)  Describe the purpose for which the indebtedness is to be created.

(2)  Specify the dollar amount of the one or more bonds proposed to be issued.

C.(1)  A bond issued under this Section shall be secured and paid for solely from the revenues generated by the local government from providing the covered services.

(2)  A local government may not pay the origination, financing, or other carrying costs associated with the one or more bonds issued under this Section from the general funds or other enterprise funds of the local government.  Nothing in this Section shall preclude a local government from using the general funds or other enterprise funds to advance funds for the feasibility study prescribed under La. Rev. Stat. 45:844.49 or for start-up costs for the proposed venture, provided that any such funds advanced are repaid by the enterprise fund established under La. Rev. Stat. 45:844.51 at interest rates and on terms and conditions available to private enterprises in the open market.

(3)  Nothing in this Chapter shall preclude a local government that owns and operates electric, water, gas, sewer and other utilities from pledging the resources of such utilities to obtain the best available interest rates, terms and conditions for the bonds necessary to finance the facilities used to provide the proposed covered services.

(4)  Nothing under this Section provides a local governing authority bonding authority in addition to that provided under existing state law.

Acts 2004, No. 736, §1, eff. July 6, 2004.