Gretna, LA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

Gretna Code of Ordinances § 12-35 levies the occupational license tax on "each person, as defined in R.S. 47:342(6)," who conducts "any business, trade, calling, profession or vocation" in the city, and it fixes the amount by adopting, wholesale, "the applicable provisions of R.S. title 47, subtitle 2, ch. 3 (R.S. 47:341 et seq.)" as they exist now or are later amended. That state title organizes businesses into rate classifications by type and gross-receipts tier, and the city ordinance folds that classification schedule into the local levy "by reference as if written herein in extenso." Section 12-35(d) is explicit that paying the tax is not city approval of zoning, occupancy, or any other aspect of the business: the licensee still has to separately comply with every other applicable ordinance.

A related special rule sits at § 12-36: Christmas tree dealers must post a $250.00 deposit with their license application, applied to sales tax collected and site cleanup, on top of (not instead of) the § 12-35 occupational license tax. New occupational licenses, and any transfer of an existing license to a new business location, are also subject to a 180-day probationary period under § 12-38; a violation of any state statute or local ordinance during that window is grounds for the code enforcement official to revoke the license, with an appeal to the city council under § 12-38(d).

The code enforcement official administers the tax under Division 2 (§§ 12-65 et seq.), including a $50.00 issuance fee on every new application (§ 12-70(a)(4)) and a $10.00 fee to reissue a lost or destroyed license (§ 12-70(d)).