(B)
(ii) Medical equipment leased for a term exceeding five years to such a nonprofit corporation or association that owns or operates a small, rural hospital and that uses the equipment solely for health care purposes at the hospital, provided that the property shall be exempt only during the term of the lease to such corporation or association, and further provided that "small, rural hospital" shall mean a hospital that meets all of the following criteria:
(bb) It is located in a municipality with a population of less than ten thousand that has been classified as an area with a shortage of health manpower by the United States Health Service; and
(3) Property of an organization such as a lodge or club organized for charitable and fraternal purposes and practicing the same, and property of a nonprofit corporation devoted to promoting trade, travel, and commerce, and also property of a trade, business, industry or professional society or association, if that property is owned by a nonprofit corporation or association organized under the laws of this state for such purposes.
(4)
(b)
(bb) The owner of the property habitually neglects maintenance of the property as evidenced by three or more sustained code enforcement violations issued for the property in the prior twelve months for matters that endanger the health or safety of residents of the property or of persons in the area surrounding the property. For purposes of this Item, matters deemed to endanger health or safety include structural instability due to deterioration; injurious or toxic ventilation; contaminated or inoperable water supply; holes, breaks, rotting materials, or mold in walls; roof defects that admit rain; unsecured overhang extensions in danger of collapse; a hazardous electrical system; improper connection of fuel-burning appliances or equipment; an inactive or inoperable fire detection system; an unsecured or contaminated swimming pool; or any combination of these.
(2) stocks and bonds, except bank stocks, the tax on which shall be paid by the banking institution;
(3) obligations secured by mortgage on property located in Louisiana and the notes or other evidence thereof;
(4) loans by life insurance companies to policyholders, if secured solely by their policies;
(5) the legal reserve of domestic life insurance companies;
(6) loans by a homestead or building and loan association to its members, if secured solely by stock of the association;
(7) debts due for merchandise or other articles of commerce or for services rendered;
(8) obligations of the state or its political subdivisions;
(9) personal property used in the home or on loan in a public place;
(10) irrevocably dedicated places of burial held by individuals for purposes of burial of themselves or members of their families;
(11) agricultural products while owned by the producer, agricultural machinery and other implements used exclusively for agricultural purposes, animals on the farm, and property belonging to an agricultural fair association;
(12) property used for cultural, Mardi Gras carnival, or civic activities and not operated for profit to the owners;
(13) rights-of-way granted to the State Department of Highways;
(14) boats using gasoline as motor fuel;
(15) commercial vessels used for gathering seafood for human consumption; and
(16) ships and oceangoing tugs, towboats, and barges engaged in international trade and domiciled in Louisiana ports. However, this exemption shall not apply to harbor, wharf, shed, and other port dues or to any vessel operated in the coastal trade of the states of the United States.
(17) Materials, boiler fuels, and energy sources used by public utilities to fuel the generation of electricity.
(18) All incorporeal movables of any kind or nature whatsoever, except public service properties, bank stocks, and credit assessments on premiums written in Louisiana by insurance companies and loan and finance companies. For purposes of this Section, incorporeal movables shall have the meaning set forth in the Louisiana Civil Code of 1870, as amended.
(19) All artwork including sculptures, glass works, paintings, drawings, signed and numbered posters, photographs, mixed media, collages, or any other item which would be considered as the material result of a creative endeavor which is listed as a consignment article by an art dealer.
(b) so long as the imports (other than minerals and ores of the same kind as any mined or produced in this state and manufactured articles) are held in this state in the original form in bales, sacks, barrels, boxes, cartons, containers, or other original packages, and raw materials held in bulk as all or a part of the new material inventory of manufacturers or processors, solely for manufacturing or processing; or
(c) so long as the imports are held by an importer in any public or private storage in the original form in bales, sacks, barrels, boxes, cartons, containers, or other original packages and agricultural products in bulk. This exemption shall not apply to these imports when held by a retail merchant as part of his stock-in-trade for sale at retail.
(3) Goods, commodities, and personal property in public or private storage while in transit through this state which are moving in interstate commerce through or over the territory of the state or which are in public or private storage within Louisiana, having been shipped from outside Louisiana for storage in transit to a final destination outside Louisiana, whether such destination was specified when transportation began or afterward.
Property described in Paragraph (D), whether or not entitled to exemption, shall be reported to the proper taxing authority on the forms required by law.
(F) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this Section, the State Board of Commerce and Industry or its successor, with the approval of the governor, may enter into contracts for the exemption from ad valorem taxes of a new manufacturing establishment or an addition to an existing manufacturing establishment, on such terms and conditions as the board, with the approval of the governor, deems in the best interest of the state.
The exemption shall be for an initial term of no more than five calendar years, and may be renewed for an additional five years. All property exempted shall be listed on the assessment rolls and submitted to the Louisiana Tax Commission or its successor, but no taxes shall be collected thereon during the period of exemption.
The terms "manufacturing establishment" and "addition" as used herein mean a new plant or establishment or an addition or additions to any existing plant or establishment which engages in the business of working raw materials into wares suitable for use or which gives new shapes, qualities or combinations to matter which already has gone through some artificial process.
(G) Coal or lignite stockpiled in Louisiana for use in Louisiana for industrial or manufacturing purposes or for boiler fuel, gasification, feedstock, or process purposes.
(H) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this constitution, the State Board of Commerce and Industry or its successor, with the approval of the governor and the local governing authority and in accordance with procedures and conditions provided by law, may enter into contracts granting to a property owner, who proposes the expansion, restoration, improvement, or development of an existing structure or structures in a downtown, historic, or economic development district established by a local governing authority or in accordance with law, the right for an initial term of five years after completion of the work to pay ad valorem taxes based upon the assessed valuation of the property for the year prior to the commencement of the expansion, restoration, improvement, or development. Contracts may be renewed, subject to the same conditions, for an additional five years extending such right for a total of ten years from completion of the work.
(I)
(2) The contract for exemption shall be on such terms and to the extent, up to and including the full assessed valuation of the goods held in inventory, as the economic development authority or district deems in the best interest of the parish. However, prior to entering into each individual contract, the economic development authority or district must request and receive written approval of the contract, including its terms and an estimated fiscal impact, from each affected tax recipient body in the parish, as evidenced by a favorable vote of a majority of the members of the governing authority of the tax recipient body. Failure to receive all required approvals from the tax recipient bodies before entering into a contract shall render the contract null and void and of no effect.
(3) The term "distribution center" as used herein means an establishment engaged in the sale of products for resale or further processing for resale. The term "goods held in inventory" as used herein means goods or products which have been given new shapes, qualities, or combinations through some artificial process and does not include raw materials such as natural gas, crude oil, sulphur, or timber or goods or products held for sale to consumers.
(2) The exemption provided in this Paragraph shall be applicable in any parish in which the exemption has been approved by a majority of the electors of the parish voting thereon at an election called for that purpose.
(b) In addition to the homestead exemption authorized pursuant to the provisions of Section 20 of this Article, which applies to the first seven thousand five hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of property, the next four thousand five hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of property owned and occupied by a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of seventy percent or more but less than one hundred percent by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation. The surviving spouse of a deceased veteran with a service-connected disability rating of seventy percent or more but less than one hundred percent by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be eligible for this exemption if the surviving spouse occupies and remains the owner of the property, whether or not the exemption was in effect on the property prior to the death of the veteran. If property eligible for the exemption provided for in this Subsubparagraph has an assessed value in excess of twelve thousand dollars, ad valorem property taxes shall apply to the assessment in excess of twelve thousand dollars.
(c) In addition to the homestead exemption authorized pursuant to the provisions of Section 20 of this Article, which applies to the first seven thousand five hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of property, the remaining assessed valuation of property receiving the homestead exemption that is owned and occupied by a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of one hundred percent unemployability or totally disabled by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation. The surviving spouse of a deceased veteran with a service-connected disability rating of one hundred percent unemployability or totally disabled by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall be eligible for this exemption if the surviving spouse occupies and remains the owner of the property, whether or not the exemption was in effect on the property prior to the death of the veteran.
(3) A trust shall be eligible for the exemption provided for in this Paragraph as provided by law.
(2) Ad valorem taxes shall apply to the assessed valuation of the first ten million dollars or ten percent of fair market value, whichever is greater, and this amount of property shall not be exempt under this Paragraph.
(3) A targeted non-manufacturing business means at least fifty percent of such business' total annual sales from a site or sites in the state is to out-of-state customers or buyers, or to in-state customers or buyers but the product or service is resold by the purchaser to an out-of-state customer or buyer for ultimate use, or to the federal government, or any combination thereof. The legislature may provide by law for the inclusion of sales by affiliates when appropriate in making this fifty percent determination.
(4) A contract for the exemption shall be available only in parishes which have agreed to participate, in the manner provided by the legislature by law.
(ii) A state police officer who died while on duty.
(iii) A law enforcement or fire protection officer who qualified for the salary supplement authorized in Section 10(D)(3) of this Article who died while on duty.
(ii) A volunteer firefighter, verified by the Office of the State Fire Marshal to have died while performing firefighting duties.
(iii) A law enforcement or fire protection officer who died while on duty and who would have qualified for the salary supplement authorized in Section 10(D)(3) of this Article if he had completed the first year of his employment before his death.
(ii) The surviving spouse has not remarried.
(iii) The surviving spouse annually provides evidence of their eligibility for the exemption in accordance with the requirements of Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph.
(b) For purposes of the continuation of an existing exemption, the surviving spouse shall annually provide a sworn statement to the assessor attesting to the fact that the surviving spouse has not remarried.
(4) A trust shall be eligible for the exemption provided for in this Paragraph as provided by law.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph, this exemption shall not apply to any of the following:
(b) For projects constructed in two or more distinct phases, any phase of the construction project that is complete, available for its intended use, or operational on the date the property is assessed.
(c) Any public service property, unless the public service property is otherwise eligible for an exemption provided by any other provision of this constitution.
(2) For the purposes of this Paragraph, "first responder" shall mean a volunteer firefighter who has completed within the tax year no fewer than twenty-four hours of firefighter continuing education and is an active member of the Louisiana State Firemen's Association or is on the departmental personnel roster of the Volunteer Firefighter Insurance Program of the office of state fire marshal. For the purposes of this Paragraph, "first responder" shall also mean a full-time public employee whose duties include responding rapidly to an emergency and who resides in the same parish in which their employer is located. The term includes the following:
(b) Fire protection personnel.
(c) An individual certified as emergency medical services personnel.
(d) An emergency response operator or emergency services dispatcher who provides communication support services for an agency by responding to requests for assistance in emergencies.
(4) Each tax assessor shall establish a procedure whereby a person may annually apply for the exemption which shall include the production of documents by the first responder. In the application for the exemption, the first responder shall produce documentation issued by his employer evidencing employment for the taxable period for which the exemption is being requested.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the contrary, any decrease in the total amount of ad valorem tax collected by the taxing authority as a result of an ad valorem tax exemption granted pursuant to this Paragraph shall be absorbed by the taxing authority and shall not create any additional tax liability for other taxpayers in the taxing district as a result of any subsequent reappraisal and valuation or millage adjustment. Implementation of the exemption authorized in this Paragraph shall neither trigger nor be cause for a reappraisal of property or an adjustment of millages.
