Terrebonne voters to decide millage renewals

Terrebonne Parish voters will be asked to consider the fate of millages for roads, police and fire departments and the parish’s Association for Retarded Citizens next Tuesday.

The 10-year property taxes will expire next year and will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Perhaps the most vital on the ballot will be providing 5.08 mill each to the Houma Fire and Police departments.

Paul Labat, of the Terrebonne Parish Council Clerk’s Office, said that each of the renewals will not increase; the amount of each tax will remain the same.

Only residents living within Houma city limits will vote for or against renewing city police and fire funding, he said.

Although both receive federal and state monies, personnel cuts would become necessary if denied renewal, officials with both departments have said.

One property tax renewal of .82-mill would provide Road District 6 with road maintenance funding in the Montegut area.

“It’s a much-needed tax that services all the various systems in the parish and it’s a minimal tax that has been enforced for the last 10 years.

All we need to do is renew it,” said District 6 Councilman Harold Lapeyre.

The Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens, serving over 300 clients, is also in its last year of funding.

Without the renewal of 5.33 mills, TARC would lose one-third of its funding and would have to face major cuts.

“We have not even looked at what would be cut,” said Valerie Wallace, executive director at TARC. “This millage has been in place for 30 years and hoping that we can maintain confidence in this vote, but I can tell you every program would be deeply affected.”

TARC receives the other two-thirds of its funding from federal and state grants.

Other property tax renewals on Tuesday’s ballot include:

11.21 mills for sanitation and 7.31 mills for drainage.

3.99 mills in Road Lighting District 2 near Ellendale along La. 311.

4.75 mills in Road Lighting District 4 near Dulac and Grand Caillou.

15 mills for the Bayou Black Fire Department.

Andrea Carlson can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or andrea@tri-parishtimes.com