T’bonne voters pass tax measures

By large margins on Saturday, Terrebonne Parish voters passed measures to redirect a portion of the 1-cent sales tax toward school construction projects and to renew a 5.41-mill property tax which funds school system operations.

The unofficial results showed 84 percent (3,617) of voters approved the sales tax rededication, while 16 percent (613) rejected the proposition.

Nearly 86 percent (3,831) endorsed the property tax renewal and 16 percent (695) were against it.

“I’m very appreciative, very thankful that the voters were in agreement with what we’re trying to do,” said Philip Martin, Terrebonne Parish schools superintendent. “We’re just in a grateful mood. Now we’re planning to move forward.”

The school system can use all or some of the 17 percent of the 1-cent sales tax dedicated to technology upgrades and repairing roofs for school renovations and new construction.

That portion of the tax generates about $4 million annually.

The school system wants to replace and relocate flood-prone schools, remove portable and modular buildings from campuses, make high schools ninth through 12th grade, ease overcrowding, and acquire land as needed.

Martin said the first use of the newly available money is to repay $10 million in interest-free loans the school system received from the federal government’s stimulus plan.

The superintendent also said he will devise a plan to determine which schools will receive improvements and new construction first.

He said input from his staff and a study group formed this summer to determine the district’s school construction priorities will guide the process.

“I will bring to the school board in the next two to three weeks a list of where exactly to begin,” Martin said. “There are several things that need to be done and they all can’t be done at once. So I will sit and talk and discuss and confer and study and eventually I will make some recommendations.”

The renewed 5.41-millage is a 10-year property tax that has been on the books for more than 70 years. The tax will be active between 2011 and 2020, and is expected to generate about $3.8 million per year.

About seven percent of the eligible Terrebonne electorate voted.