Creates the Violet Economic Development District in St. Bernard Parish

House Bill 465 creates the Violet Economic Development District as a new political subdivision within St. Bernard Parish by enacting R.S. 33:9038.82. The district is established with defined boundaries encompassing a specific area in Violet and is created to support infrastructure, housing, and workforce development investments while addressing impacts and opportunities related to the Louisiana International Terminal. The legislation creates a nine-member governing board composed of the governor or designee, members representing Louisiana Senate Districts 1 and 3 or their designees, the representative from Louisiana House District 103 or designee, the St. Bernard Parish president or designee, three members appointed by the Violet Action Committee, and one member appointed by Greater New Orleans Inc. who must be a district resident. Board members are assigned staggered terms, with the state and legislative representatives serving during their elected terms while committee-appointed members serve four-year terms with initial staggered terms of one through four years determined by lot.

The district operates as a political subdivision with standard corporate powers including the authority to sue and be sued, adopt bylaws and regulations, receive grants and donations, enter into contracts and cooperative agreements, and hire officers and employees. The practical effect extends primarily to the Violet community and St. Bernard Parish, as the district will coordinate development priorities and direct incremental revenues to local reinvestment. The district's funding mechanism authorizes it to capture state sales tax increment revenues generated within its boundaries, limited to no more than twenty-five percent of incremental state sales tax growth with an annual cap of two million one hundred thousand dollars adjusted for inflation. The district is prohibited from implementing ad valorem taxes or local sales tax increment financing and has no other independent taxing authority. This arrangement creates accountability mechanisms whereby revenues generated from economic growth within the district are directed toward locally determined priorities rather than distributed through general state funds.

The Violet Economic Development District operates within the existing framework of Louisiana's tax increment financing provisions established in R.S. 33:9038.34, which governs how local governmental subdivisions may capture incremental tax revenues for economic development purposes. The district qualifies as a political subdivision under the Louisiana Constitution and derives its powers from that constitutional status and from the specific statutory authorization provided in this enacted section. The governance structure reflects a hybrid approach combining state government representation through the governor and legislative members with local community input through the Violet Action Committee and regional business leadership through Greater New Orleans Inc. The vacancy-filling procedures establish a cascade mechanism beginning with the appointing authority, then the Violet Action Committee if initial appointment fails, and finally remaining board members, which ensures the district remains operational despite lapses in external appointments. The effective date of July 1, 2026, allows adequate time for organizational preparation before the district begins operations and revenue capture activities.