Tax renewals, one new assessment before Terrebonne voters

Voters throughout Terrebonne Parish will decide Saturday whether to renew six existing taxes that officials say are critical for drainage as well as programs for developmentally disabled people, youth services and continued mental health services.

Parish-wide renewals, if passed, will also mean continued funding of youth programs and services for the aging.

The existing parish-wide taxes up for renewal, combined, add up to $22.50 for each $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.

Therefore those extensions, combined, for a home valued at $100,000 with a $75,000 homestead exemption, would represent about $56.25 of the overall annual tax bill.

Additional renewals are on the ballot for voters within the city of Houma, related to fire and police protection.

Parish President Michel Claudet says the drainage renewal is of crucial importance.

“Every place I go people bring up drainage,” said Claudet. “I think this is the one tax that our people need no explanation as to the importance of the renewal.”

The drainage tax is 7.91 mills, the same it has been for the past decade, and no increase is requested.

In currency, that translates to nearly $20 of the overall tax bill on the $100,000 homestead-exempted property per year.

The money is used by the parish’s drainage division to maintain culverts and ditches, as well as pump projects such as those recently installed for the Summerfield and Ashland subdivisions.

The tax contributes to 48 percent of the total capital outlay for drainage of $199 million annually, according to Terrebonne Chief Financial Officer Jamie Jamie Elfert.

“Drainage being one of our largest challenges, it is important for our government to depend on the continuity of the funding sources as key to our success,” Elfert said.

Other ballot items include renewal of a 5.33 mill tax dedicated to Terrebonne Arc, which provides job training and placement, therapy and other services for people with developmental disabilities. The millage has been in place and continually renewed since 1976.

The $4 million in taxpayer money Terrebonne Arc receives each year makes up nearly half of its $8 million-plus annual budget.

“The millage is vital to our survival, in order to create the programs we have been able to do for 51 years,” said ARC marketing director Erica Null. “We consider ourselves one of the leading agencies of our kind in the US.”

Operation and maintenance of the Terrebonne Regional Mental Health Center is the subject of a 0.42 mill tax renewal, which raises an estimated $340,000 annually toward that end.

The center provides screening, on-going care, referrals and other services for people with mental illnesses.

While state dollars are involved with funding of behavioral health programs throughout Louisiana, local money raised through the millage has a direct effect on the ability of care providers to aid people in Terrebonne directly.

The millage represents about $1.50 in annual tax on the $100,000 homestead-exempt property.

“The parish contracts with various agencies including the state office of mental health and the Shaw Corporation, to provide services,” said Elfert. “These agencies are also providing service for addictive disorders.”

An existing 0.98-mill tax is up for renewal, to help pay for the parish’s juvenile detention center and other programs related to youth. An additional tax of 0.96 mills – which reads as a new tax but is actually a renewal – is proposed to continue helping fund other programs for young people. Rehabilitation for youngsters who enter the juvenile detention center and youth probation is a part of that package.

Elfert said the proposal reads like a new tax because it was originally created by the state Legislature. With that obligation expiring, the parish seeks to take the tax under its stewardship and extend it.

Combined, the youth-services taxes represent $4.85 per year on the $100,000 homestead exempt property.

The parish Council on Aging seeks renewal of its 7.5 mill tax, to help pay for senior centers and other services for elders.

The cost would be $18.75 per year on a $100,000 home with a homestead exemption.

The renewals have not garnered any organized opposition.