5 tax proposals pass easily

Low voter turnout – less than 3 percent in one case – helped six property-tax initiatives in St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes pass with overwhelming support Saturday.

Twenty-three people (a 2.8-percent turnout) cast votes on a 10-year millage renewal for St. Mary Parish’s Recreation District No. 1, with 18 voters (78 percent) affirming the tax call, according to complete but unofficial results released by the Secretary of State. The tax is expected to raise $387,000 each year for maintaining, operating and improving recreational facilities in Amelia.

Voters approved three additional property-tax calls, including one new tax for a bond deal, in various St. Mary Parish Districts.

St. Mary Parish’s Fifth Ward Special School District No. 1 received permission to levy a 15-mill new tax as part of a 20-year, $21 million bond issue to fund construction projects and land acquisition. The vote was 734-to-271, passing with 73 percent of the vote. At 16.9 percent, voter turnout here was higher than all other Tri-parish tax calls.

Gravity Sub-Drainage District No. 1, based in Franklin, will continue to levy a 9.95-mill tax after voters approved the initiative by a 32-percent margin. The tax is expected to raise $456,000 per year for a decade, and it is dedicated to the drainage facilities’ operations and maintenance costs. Voter turnout was 7.7 percent, with 108 of 164 voters assenting to the renewal, according to the Secretary of State.

The Wax Lake East Drainage District’ 3.2-mill tax was also renewed after voters approved the measure by a 54-percent margin. The 10-year tax is expected to raise $365,000 per year, and it is dedicated to maintaining, operating and improving the district’s drainage facilities. Of the 1,196 voters (11.1 percent turnout), 916 approved the measure

Terrebonne voters, also at low turnout rates, approved two district-specific property taxes for recreational purposes.

Recreation District No. 7, which encompasses Chauvin and Smithridge, had its 9.5-mill tax extended. The tax, first levied in 2004, is worth an estimated $619,000 in annual revenue. Voters approved the tax by a 60-percent margin, with 184 of 231 voters approving the call. Turnout was 6 percent.

Voters of the Gibson area extended Recreation District No. 8’s 9-mill tax with 94 percent of 132 voters in agreement; turnout was 7.1 percent. The tax was first levied in 2005 and was scheduled to expire at the end of next year. It brings in roughly $287,000 per year.

12 TRI-PARISH PROPOSITIONS ON NOV. 16 BALLOT

Twelve propositions are slated to face Tri-parish voters during the next election Nov. 16, a list that includes the library-to-jail rededication proposal in Lafourche and Houma property-tax measures to fund emergency services.

All Terrebonne Parish voters will decide on seven parishwide proposals. They are:

– Whether to levy a 1-percent occupancy tax on renters of the parish’s hotel rooms. The revenue, an estimated $301,000 per year, would be used for recreational and tourism infrastructure, according to the tax call.

– Whether to extend a 0.96-mill, 20-year tax, which would raise an estimated $778,000 per year for acquiring, constructing, equipping, operating, maintaining and managing a youth center in the parish and for providing rehabilitative programs for children who enter the juvenile justice system or who are in need of care or supervision.

– Whether to extend a 0.98-mill, 20-year property tax, which would raise an estimated $795,000 per year for acquiring, constructing, operating, maintain and managing an youth center in the parish and for providing rehabilitative programs for children who enter the juvenile justice system or who are in need of care or supervision.

– Whether to extend a 5.33-mill, 10-year property tax, which would raise an estimated $4.3 million per year for Terrebonne Arc, which provides services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The funds could be used for operating, maintaining and constructing Terrebonne Arc facilities.

– Whether to extend a 7.31-mill, 10-year property tax, which would raise an estimated $5.9 million per year for operating, maintaining and constructing drainage works throughout the parish.

– Whether to extend a 0.42-mill, 10-year property tax, which would raise an estimated $340,500 per year for the purpose of operating and maintaining the Terrebonne Regional Mental Health Center.

– Whether to extend a 7.5-mill, 10-year property tax, which would raise an estimated $6.1 million per year for acquiring, constructing, operating and maintaining capital improvements to serve the elderly and for operating and maintaining programs for elderly and disabled people through the Terrebonne Council on Aging.

The City of Houma seeks to extend a 5.08-mill tax for 10 years for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining and operating fire protection facilities in the city. The tax would bring in an estimated $1.2 million per year.

Houma voters will also determine whether to approve a tax at the same rate and length for the purpose of providing revenues for police protection.

Lafourche Parish presents voters with two tax calls, one of which is parishwide.

On the parishwide issue, voters will decide whether to extend a partially rededicate a 3.8-mill, 30-year tax that is currently dedicated to the library system. One mill would be rededicated for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, operating and maintaining a new parish jail. The remaining 2.8 mill would continue to go to the library system, which also takes in 2.503 mills.

The Central Lafourche Ambulance Service District seeks a 10-year renewal of an 8.0-mill property tax used for paying the cost of contracting for private ambulance services in the district or acquiring, maintaining and operating equipment and facilities necessary to provide ambulance service for the district.

In St. Mary Parish, the Water and Sewer Commission No. 4 seeks the authority to levy up to 11.04 mills in new property taxes to incur up to $3 million in debt for the purpose of constructing, equipping and acquiring extensions and improvements to the waterworks plant and system and seer and sewerage treatment and disposal facilities of the commission.

Early voting runs from Nov. 2-9. Election day is Nov. 16.

Clarification: A previous version of this article stated that Terrebonne voters would decide Nov. 16 whether to “levy a new, 0.96-mill, 20-year tax” for juvenile justice services. The tax proposition is actually an extension of an existing tax. The tax call reads like a new tax because its enactor is proposed to change from the state Legislature 20 years ago to Terrebonne voters. The only proposed new tax on the Terrebonne ballot is the 1-percent occupancy tax on renters of the parish’s hotel rooms.