For those of you that missed it, we had our first LPA Legal Webinar last week – on advertising. Advertising is one of my favorite
It’s never a bad time to make sure you’re charging the right rate for your public notices. I suggest you do it every time – there’s a great chart in in your law guide at Appendix C-1 that lays out exactly how much you should charge and the statutory basis for such a charge.
This month I had a number of calls about rates because it’s tax sale season and adjudicated sale season. As we’ve talked about before in this space, the public notice law doesn’t specifically and explicitly state what rate you should charge for an adjudicated sale or a tax sale. It’s the LPA’s position that a tax sale is akin to a judicial proceeding, the sale of property under judicial process, or any other legal proceedings of any kind than to the running of an agenda or other public notice by the local government. Importantly, this cost is passed on to the purchaser—so the government doesn’t ultimately pay it, your fellow citizens do.
Louisiana Revised Statute 43:205 states that the rate for “judicial proceedings, the sale of property under judicial process, or any other legal proceedings of any kind” should be 90% of the commercial advertising rate charged for a similar volume of business. This includes things like succession advertisements, missing persons and sheriff’s sales. We also believe this includes tax sales, as noted above.
But 43:205 is just for judicial proceedings. As you know, local governments award their “official journal” status each June. That means your local official journal probably just selected its official journal. In addition, state agencies and other governmental entities have varying rates at which they can advertise in your publication.
In New Orleans, the maximum rate to be charged is .31 cents per agate line for “State Agencies” like the Department of Transportation and Development or the Department of Natural Resources according to La. R.S. 43:205(C). For local government and its agencies in Orleans Parish, the maximum rate is .37 cents per agate line according to La. R.S. 43:147(D).
In Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Lafayette the State Agency rate is .28 cents per agate line (La. R.S. 43:205(B). The local government rate for official proceedings, like minutes, agendas and notices, is .33 cents per agate line. La. R.S. 43:147(C). These rates only apply in Parishes with cities of more than 100,000 people but less than 300,000.
Everywhere else, Louisiana R.S. 43:205(A) states that State Agencies have a maximum rate of $5 per square rate and local governments get a $6 capped rate according to La. R.S. 43:147(B).
Importantly – just because you give local governments or certain agencies one rate doesn’t mean that political candidates or third-party groups get that same rate! As always, if you don’t know, ask a lawyer!
The LPA Hotline is here for you. Call LPA HQ at 225-344-9309 and ask to speak to the Hotline attorney if you need assistance understanding the law of privacy, defamation, open meetings, public records or Louisiana government generally. Be sure to check our updated Law Guide in the members-only section of LPA’s web site, www.lapress.com.
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Scott Sternberg is general counsel to the Louisiana Press Association and practices law with Sternberg, Naccari, & White, LLC in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Scott operates the LPA legal hotline and can be reached at scott@snw.law; www.snw.law; 504-324-2141. This column is not to be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship or giving legal advice. You should consult with a licensed professional about your business and legal obligations.