§418. Sheriff ex officio collector of assessments

A. The sheriff of each parish wholly or in part situated within the limits of one of the levee districts or levee and drainage districts of the state, except the parish of Orleans, shall be ex officio the collector of all local assessments or forced contributions levied by the board of commissioners of his levee district or levee and drainage district. He shall keep a book to be furnished by the levee board or levee and drainage board of the district within whose limits his parish is situated in which he shall enter in separate columns the names of all persons who have paid produce, special assessment, or forced contribution, the date and amount of each payment, and the kind of produce on which paid and shall furnish to the secretary of the levee board or levee and drainage board on or before the fifteenth day of June of each year an exact copy of the entries on the book. He shall publish as required by the president of the various levee boards and levee and drainage boards, during fifteen days in a newspaper of the parish of the sheriff, beginning on the first Saturday of July of each year, a copy of the entries on the books, leaving out, however, the dates of payment. The price for publication shall not exceed the amount now allowed by law for the advertisement of tax sales, and in parishes where there are two or more newspapers published, publication shall be offered to each newspaper and shall be awarded to the one that will publish the books the cheapest.

B. Beginning with the taxes levied for the calendar year 1974 and thereafter, the taxes levied by the board of commissioners of the Orleans Levee District under its constitutional authority shall be collected by the city of New Orleans upon certification of the rate of the tax to the council of the city of New Orleans which shall cause the tax to be entered on the tax rolls of the city and collected in the manner and under the conditions and with the interest and penalties prescribed by law for city taxes. Such tax levied by the Orleans Levee District shall be collected at the same time as the collection of taxes levied by the city of New Orleans. The director of finance of the city of New Orleans is hereby authorized to deduct from the aggregate amount of all such taxes collected a commission in an amount and upon such terms and provisions as shall be agreed upon by the board of commissioners of the Orleans Levee District and the city of New Orleans and to deposit such amount in the general fund of the city of New Orleans, but in no instance shall the commission agreed upon be less than the actual cost of collection. The said director of finance is further authorized to deduct from the aggregate amount collected such amounts as were previously deducted by the state tax collector for the parish of Orleans for retirement systems and salary and expense funds and to make remittance of such amounts in the same manner and to the same entities as directed by law. The money then remaining from the total amount collected shall be paid to the board.

C. The cost of publication shall be paid by the levee board or levee and drainage board of the district.

Acts 1985, No. 785, §1, eff. July 22, 1985.