Schools will keep tax rate the same

Owner of $200,000 home would pay $704

A renewal of the tax rate for the coming year was brought to the School Board table on Wednesday. The renewal will keep the rates at the same level – 56.37 mills – for the third year in a row.

That means that for a $200,000 home, the homeowner would pay about $704 a year after their homestead exemption. For a $100,000 home, the owner would pay about $140 after the exemption.

The taxes will bring the schools an estimated $61 million in revenues.

“Overall, we’ve continued to reduce the millage over the last 11 years…and at no point have we increased it (in that time),” said Jim Melohn, chief financial and administrative officer for the school district.

The last time the schools changed the tax rates was in the transition between 2009 and 2010 when the board voted to reduce the taxes collected for debt services from 6.36 mills to 5.86 mills. Overall, the schools have lowered their collective tax rate by 2.46 mills since 2002.

Melohn said that the schools have not had to raise tax rates because of industry in the parish.

“There are two things that affect the amount of revenues you receive: millage rates and the tax base,” Melohn said. “St. Charles Parish has been fortunate because the tax base has increased with the new industry coming on and expansions.”

He said that because many industries get a 10-year exemption in Louisiana, the parish is just now feeling the effects of some changes that took place 10 years ago. He also said that the price of gasoline is a major factor in tax revenues because the value of oil and gas at parish plants fluctuates over the years.