LAC 46:LXX.12111. Assessment of Fees to Fund Administrative and Operational Costs

A. The ordinary and necessary operating and administrative expenses of pilotage included in pilotage fees and rates as provided by La. R.S. 1122(B)(1) shall include the reasonable administration and operational costs of the Commission (Commission Operational Costs). B. For purposes of administrative ease, the Commission Operational Costs shall be recovered through a surcharge imposed on each vessel entering and departing from the Mississippi or Calcasieu Rivers and included in the tariffs of the Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of New Orleans (the Bar Pilots) and the Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of Lake Charles (Lake Charles Pilots). The Bar Pilots and the Lake Charles Pilots shall collect the surcharge through a line-item charge included on invoices, shall remit all surcharge collections monthly to the Commission with a collections report and shall be subject to annual audit and adjustment. C. The surcharge shall be imposed and adjusted annually through proceedings before the Commission with full rights of participation by all parties in interest and shall be based on the number of vessels projected to enter the Mississippi and Calcasieu Rivers and on the budgeted Commission Operational Costs for the year.