CHAPTER 23. MOSQUITO ABATEMENT DISTRICTS
§7721. Creation of districts as political
subdivisions
The governing authority of any parish may by ordinance create mosquito abatement districts composed of any part or all of the territory lying wholly within the parish. Such districts shall be political and legal subdivisions of the state, with power to sue and be sued in their corporate names.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 1.
§7722. Purposes
The purposes for which mosquito abatement districts may be organized and the nature of the business to be carried on by them are as follows: the abatement, control, eradication and study of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance, and all activities incidental thereto.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 1.
§7723. Board of commissioners; membership; qualifications and terms
When any such district is created, the parish governing authority creating it shall appoint a board of commissioners composed of five members to govern its affairs and shall fix the domicile of the board at any point within the parish. The members of the board shall be qualified electors of the district, two of whom shall be appointed for terms of two years and three for terms of three years, dating from the date of the adoption of the ordinance creating the district. Thereafter, all appointments of the members shall be for terms of three years. Such boards shall serve without compensation, but the members shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in connection with their official duties.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 1.
§7724. Powers of board
A. Each board of commissioners has authority to manage and control the affairs of its district, to adopt ordinances reasonably necessary to further the purposes for which the district is created, and to fix penalties for violations of such ordinances by fine or imprisonment within the limits fixed by law for violations of ordinances of the parish governing authority.
B. Each board has authority to purchase, maintain, and operate machinery and equipment necessary or useful in the eradication, abatement or control of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance, and to maintain an adequate administrative staff.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 1.
§7725. Combination of administrative personnel of two or more districts; approval of ordinances by state health officer
To effect economy of operation, any two or more districts may combine the use of administrative and operative personnel and equipment upon such basis of compensation therefor as is mutually agreed to by all such boards of commissioners participating. The methods to be used in the eradication, abatement, and control of mosquitoes and other arthropods shall be submitted to the division of health of the Louisiana Health and Human Resources Administration annually for approval by the state health officer or his successor, and the ordinances of any such board of commissioners hereinabove referred to shall not be legally effective without such approval.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 1.
§7726. Service charges for mosquito control
A. A mosquito abatement district created under the provisions of this Chapter may levy and collect special taxes, including monthly service charges to customers of waterworks districts within the mosquito control district, to finance its programs. It may use legal, proper, necessary and expedient means to collect and enforce the collection of such taxes, including the contracting with a waterworks district located within the same parish to collect a monthly service charge for mosquito control.
B. Any monthly service charge so levied shall be uniform upon the customers of the waterworks district, but each separate water meter or connection to the waterworks district's water supply lines shall be treated as a separate customer for purposes of the service charge. The waterworks district, acting as collection agency for special taxes of the mosquito abatement district, may add the tax levied by said mosquito abatement district to the water bills of its customers. On or before the tenth day of the month following the collection of the taxes, the waterworks district shall remit to the mosquito abatement district all funds collected for the purposes of mosquito control, less a small and reasonable service charge for administrative purposes of collection. Acts 1969, No. 155,§ §1, 2. Amended by Acts 1972, No. 613,§ 1; Acts 1975, No. 512,§ 2.
§7727. Boards of commissioners in Ouachita
Parish; appointment of additional members Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 33:7723, the governing authority of Ouachita Parish is hereby authorized to increase the membership of boards of commissioners of mosquito abatement districts in Ouachita Parish from five to seven members. The two additional members authorized by this Section shall be appointed by the governing authority of Ouachita Parish and shall serve initial terms of two and three years, respectively; thereafter, their successors shall serve three-year terms as provided in R.S. 33:7723. All other provisions of law relative to members of the board shall apply to the additional members and their successors. Acts 1984, No. 549,§ 1.
§7728. Board of commissioners of St. Tammany
Parish Mosquito Abatement District No. 2; expenditure of district funds; extension of service A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the board of commissioners of St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District
No. 2 shall exercise sole authority for determining the manner in which funds of the district may be expended for purposes of mosquito abatement, control, eradication and study, subject to the approval of the director of the district.
B. The board of commissioners of St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District No. 2 may extend any service authorized by this Chapter outside the territorial boundaries of the district in accordance with the terms of a service agreement between the board and the governing authority of any parish or municipality. Said agreement shall be concluded pursuant to the Local Services Law (R.S. 33:1321-1334) and shall include a statement of the financial obligations of each party to the agreement. In order to meet its financial obligations under such an agreement, any such parish or municipal governing authority may assess special taxes or service charges against persons within its jurisdiction provided the service.
C. The board of commissioners may pay the health insurance claims of district employees when the district's employee health insurance carrier becomes insolvent and is unable to satisfy those claims. The board may use surplus funds of the district to pay the unpaid claims.
D. The St. Tammany Parish Police Jury may include within the boundaries of St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District No. 2 all or any portion of Wards 3, 4 and 7 of said parish, and that portion lying within Ward 2, to wit: From the intersection of the section line common to sections 37 and 38, Township 5 South, Range 10 East, and the Tchefuncte River, also the point of beginning, go east along said section line to the section corner common to sections 6, 37, and 38, Township 5 South, Range 10 East; thence follow the eastern section line of section 38 to the corner common to sections 38, 39, and 18, Township 5 South, Range 10 East; thence go south along the eastern boundary of section 39 approximately 800 feet to a point approximately 200 feet north of Park Lane; thence go south 40 degrees east approximately 2200 feet to a point on the southern right of way of Louisiana Highway 40 approximately 200 feet east of Albert Thompson Road; thence go south and southeast along a line 200 feet east of and parallel to the eastern right of way of Albert Thompson Road to a point approximately 200 feet east of Delaune Road; thence go southeast and east along the line 200 feet east of and parallel to Delaune Road to a point 200 feet north of the eastern end of Delaune Road; thence go south 57 degrees east 1800 feet; thence go south 15 degrees and 30 minutes east 2500 feet; thence go south 14 degrees west approximately 500 feet to La. Hwy. 1078; thence follow said highway southeast to its intersection with the township line common to Townships 5 and 6 South, also the southern boundary of Ward 2; thence go west along said township line to its intersection with the Tchefuncte River; thence follow the meanderings of said river upstream in a generally northward direction in its intersection with the section line common to sections 37 and 38, Township 5 South, Range 10 East, and the point of beginning; provided that the imposition therein of all previously authorized taxes of the district shall have been first approved by a majority of voters of the area proposed to be included at an election held for such purpose.
Acts 1985, No. 87,§ 1, June 29, 1985; Acts 1986, No. 310,§ 1; Acts 1991, No. 713,§ 1; Acts 1993, No. 910,§ 1, eff. June 23, 1993.