The following terms wherever used or referred to in this Chapter shall have the following meanings unless a different meaning is clearly indicated in the context:

(1)  “Bonds and notes” means bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures or other obligations or evidences of indebtedness authorized to be issued by a corporation pursuant to this Chapter.  

(2)  “Clerk” means the official of the parish or municipality who is the custodian of the official records of the governing body.  

(3)  “Corporation” or “the tax increment development corporation” means any of the public bodies corporate and politic created by La. Rev. Stat. 47:8004 through La. Rev. Stat. 47:8008 and any subsidiary thereof which may be created pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8014.  

(4)  “Debt service millage” means any millage levied pursuant to La. Const. Art. VI, § 30 which has been dedicated to retiring bonded indebtedness.  

(5)  “Development Management” means the private development corporation or other entity retained by a corporation pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8010.  

(6)  “Executive Officer” means the mayor, chief executive officer or any other officer charged with the duties customarily imposed on the mayor or chief executive officer of the parish or municipality.  

(7)  “Federal government” means any department, agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.  

(8)  “Governing body” means the legislative body, commission, council, board of aldermen, police jury, or other body charged with governing the parish or municipality.  

(9)  “Increment revenues” means the amount calculated pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8010 and 8011.  

(10)  “Land acquisition” means the acquisition of real property for land development as part of a project.  Land acquisition shall include the removal of liens and encumbrances on real property and the use of real property in connection with the acquisition of such property.  

(11)  “Land development” means the process, as part of a project, of clearing and grading land, arranging for the installation or construction of water lines and water supply installations, sewer lines, and sewage disposal installations, steam, gas, and electric lines and installations, roads, streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, storm drainage facilities, and other installations or work, whether on or off site, deemed desirable to prepare land for residential, commercial, industrial or other uses, or to provide facilities for public or common use.  Land development shall include the construction of public facilities but shall not include the construction of any other building unless it is:

(a)  Needed in connection with a water supply or sewerage disposal installation or a steam, gas or electric line, or installation; provided that any building proposed to be constructed under this clause which interferes with the construction, operation or maintenance of a steam, gas or electric line or installation of a public utility corporation legally authorized to operate in the area of the development project shall not be undertaken without the consent of said public utility corporation, or

(b)  Is to be owned and maintained by the residents of the area included within the project under joint or cooperative arrangements.  

(12)  “Master plan” means the comprehensive plan of the parish or municipality.  

(13)  “Municipality” means any city, town, or incorporated village in the state having a population of less than three hundred thousand in which a tax increment development corporation is created hereby.  “The municipality” shall mean the particular municipality in which a particular tax increment development corporation is created.  

(14)  “Parish” means any parish in the state in which a tax increment development corporation is created hereby.  “The parish” shall mean the particular parish in which a particular tax increment development corporation is created.  

(15)  “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body politic; and shall include any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.  

(16)  “Planning body” means the commission, board, department or agency in the parish or municipality charged with the responsibility of conducting comprehensive planning and developing the master plan for such parish or municipality.  

(17)  “Preservation” means the acquisition, renovation, reconstruction or other improvement of any buildings and the land upon which it is situated which has any historical or architectural value or uniqueness.  

(18)  “Public agency or body” means the state and any parish or municipality; and any board, commission, authority, agency, district, subdivision, or department, instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the foregoing.  

(19)  “Real property” means all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith any and every estate, interest, right or use, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise.  

(20)  “Subsidiary” means a corporation created by a tax increment development corporation pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8009.  

(21)  “Surplus profits” means profits in excess of that required, as determined by a corporation, to meet the needs, goals, and objectives of a tax increment as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 47:8016.  

(22)  “Tax increment community” means a newly-built community or major addition to or upgrading of an existing community which includes most, if not all, of the activities and facilities normally associated with a city or town; cultural, educational, and religious facilities, as well as housing, transportation, utilities, industry, commerce, open space, and recreation.  

(23)  “Tax increment community development area” or “area” means the area of the parish or municipality designated by the governing body, pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8011(A), as the site of a tax increment community.  

(24)  “Tax increment development plan” or “plan” means a generalized land use and land development plan for a new community development area which shall include but not be limited to the following:

(a)  The major planning assumptions and objectives, including the projected population and the planned development pace.  

(b)  A generalized statement of the proposed uses of land throughout the area with a general allocation of relative amounts and proportions of the area to be devoted to residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and public use, indicating the anticipated residential density, the approximate proportionate amounts of low, moderate and higher income facilities and the general extent of commercial and industrial uses.  

(c)  A generalized statement of the relative amounts and proportions of proposed public, semi-public, private or community facilities or utilities including but not limited to major arterial street systems, parks, recreational facilities, shoreline development, water and drainage systems and health and educational facilities.  

(d)  A statement of the relationship between the tax increment community development plan and the master plan for the parish or municipality.  

(e)  Such additional statements or documentation as a corporation may deem necessary or appropriate.  

(25)  “Tax increment community development project” or “development project” or “project” means one or more works, undertakings and activities for the development, redevelopment, improvement, construction, rehabilitation or conservation of structures, facilities and appurtenances in a tax increment development area which is intended to result in a tax increment, including the activities required to carry out a tax increment development plan.  

(26)  “Tax increment trust fund” means a trust fund established pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:8011.  

(27)  “Taxing district”, for purposes of this Chapter, includes the governing body and each separate taxing authority or tax recipient body within the parish or municipality except parish school boards and school districts.  

(28)  “Title VII” means Title VII of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, 42 U.S.C. §§4511-4532, including any successor or amendatory statutes.  

(29)  “Title VII activities” means “land acquisition” and “land development”.  

Acts 1988, No. 996, §1.