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A.  The provisions of this Section shall be applicable to the parish of Rapides.

B.  The provisions of this Part shall apply to the parish of Rapides, but only for the following purposes:

(1)(a)  Infrastructure projects, including but not limited to utility projects, access projects, and telecommunication projects, the purchase of land, and the construction of a facility to be publicly owned for manufacturers as defined in this Paragraph.

(b)  For purposes of this Section:

(i)  The term “manufacturer” shall mean a person whose principal activity is manufacturing and who is assigned by the Louisiana Workforce Commission a North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code within the agricultural, forestry, fishing, and hunting Sector 11 or the manufacturing Sectors 31-33, as they existed in 2002.

(ii) “Manufacturing for agricultural purposes” shall mean the production, processing, and storing of food and fiber and the production, processing, and storing of timber.

(iii)  “Manufacturing” shall mean putting raw material through a series of steps that brings about a change in their composition of physical nature in order to make a new and different item of tangible personal property that will be sold to another.  Manufacturing begins at the point at which raw materials reach the first machine or piece of equipment involved in changing the form of the material and ends at the point at which manufacturing has altered the material to its completed form.  Placing materials into containers, packages, or wrapping in which they are sold to the ultimate consumer is part of the manufacturing process.

(iv)  “Manufacturing” does not include any of the following:

(aa)  Repackaging or redistributing.

(bb)  The cooking or preparing of food products by a retailer in the regular course of retail trade.

(cc)  The storage of tangible personal property.

(dd)  The delivery of tangible personal property to or from the plant.

(ee)  The delivery of tangible personal property to or from storage within the plant.

(ff) Actions such as sorting, packing, or shrink wrapping the final material for ease of transporting and shipping.

(2)  Infrastructure projects, including but not limited to utility projects, access projects, and telecommunication projects, the purchase of land, and the construction of a facility to be publicly owned for businesses identified as one of the Vision 2020 cluster industries:  biotechnology and biomedical; micro manufacturing; software, auto regulation, Internet, and telecommunications technologies; environmental technology; food technologies; and advanced materials.  Any cluster of industries added after May 1, 2002, shall also qualify for projects utilizing this financing instrument.

(3)  Infrastructure projects, including but not limited to utility projects, access projects, and telecommunication projects, the purchase of land, and the construction of a facility to be publicly owned for central administrative offices, that influence the environment in which data processing, customer service, credit accounting, telemarketing, claims processing, and other administrative functions are accomplished.  Additionally data processing, back office operations, and telephone call center operations as defined in NAICS code 56412 are eligible business types.

C.  Financing the following employers or business types shall not be a purpose for which the provisions of this Part shall apply in any parish to which this Section is applicable, and such employers or business types shall not be eligible to receive benefits of tax increment financing pursuant to the provisions of this Section:

(1)  Retail employers as identified by the NAICS code sections 44 and 45.

(2)  Business associations and professional organizations as defined in NAICS code 8139.

(3)  Real estate agents, operators, and lessors.

(4)  Automotive rental and leasing.

(5)  Local solid waste disposal, local sewage systems, and local water systems businesses.

(6)  Nonprofit organizations.

(7)  Employers engaged in the gaming industry as identified by the NAICS code sections 713210 and 721120.

(8)  Attorneys.

(9)  Hotels and convention centers.

Acts 2005, No. 386, §1, eff. July 1, 2005; Acts 2006, No. 850, §4, eff. July 11, 2006; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2011, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 20, §1, eff. June 12, 2011.