It’s a crowded May 2 ballot with four tax propositions going before St. Charles Parish voters calling for sewer system improvements, a hurricane protection levee, school upgrades with a performing arts center and assistance for the financially-strapped ARC of St. Charles.
All four measures are based on property tax hikes or renewals, which poses some suspense on how deep voters will be willing to go into their pocketbooks to support millions of dollars of projects that will take the parish forward in growth, safety and social programs. Parish, school and ARC representatives have been pitching their proposals throughout the parish in hope of gaining public and business support.
On the ballot will be Proposition 1 – a 4-mill property tax for 30 years dedicated to building a hurricane protection levee; Proposition 2 – a 2.2-mill tax renewal for another 30 years for the parish’s sewer system, Proposition 3 – a .70 mill tax for 10 years to help ARC of St. Charles deal with unfunded mandates and rising costs, and the St. Charles Parish School District’s $42 million bond issue proposition.
Overall, St. Charles Parish residents pay 112.88 mills tax on the east bank and 113.29 mills on the west bank. The taxes are dedicated to public schools, the Sheriff’s Office and two levee districts.
The school tax
For what school officials say has averaged $14.65 a year on a $100,000 home, the $42 million bond issue would include a $35 million, 67,000 square-foot performing arts center in Luling.
“Many districts are cutting the arts because of financial restrictions,” said school system Superintendent Felicia Gomez-Walker. “We see arts education, not as an add-on, but as an integral part of education for all students. A performing arts center will enhance the educational opportunities for all students and help us maintain our competitive edge.”
The bonds would also cover $4 million in renovations at Lakewood Elementary School in Luling and Albert Cammon Middle School in St. Rose, and $1.6 million to upgrade lighting at elementary schools throughout the parish.
Another $850,000 would go to safety improvements in parish schools, including installation of an electronic system to manage school visitors by scanning driver’s licenses to run the information against the national sex offender registry and make visitor passes with photographs, as well as keep an electronic log of school visits. Money also would be dedicated to doubling 440 cameras in the system.
The 20-year general obligation loan would be repaid with revenue generated from existing property taxes of up to 5.86 mills.
“The funds to repay the bonds will be structured in a way to repay the bonds from the current debt service millage without increasing the millage rate,” said Jim Melohn, the school district’s chief financial and administrative officer.
Melohn said as the current millage will be used to repay the current debt. Later, as other bonds expire, this millage will replace the prior millage, which is “why it will not increase the millage rate, but will extend the debt by three years.”
With voter approval, the proposed world-class, 1,300-seat performing arts center would be built on Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway near R.K. Smith Middle School in Luling. The center would be for school, community and professional performances, as well as educational opportunities.
In 2012, the school district got voter support for a $45 million bond issue for school renovations and expansions at nine of the district’s 17 schools, and to remove portable buildings used as classrooms. The debt is being paid off using 5.86 mills the district already levies for debt service.
If voters reject the new measure, Gomez-Walker said, “We will reevaluate and determine next steps.”
The levee tax
For an additional $40 a year to the owner of a $175,000 house with a homestead exemption, the St. Charles Parish government is proposing a 4-mill property tax to generate $4.8 million a year for 30 years beginning in 2015. The proposal calls for 3.6 mills in new tax with the remaining .4-mill to come from a reduction in an existing road lighting millage.
Parish Chief Administrative Officer Buddy Boe has told voters that federal dollars have dried up for the remaining western portion of the levee, requiring local dollars for construction rather than relying on “hopes and prayers.” Boe said the revenue could be leveraged into the millions of dollars needed for the work.
Funding would cover a levee on the west bank and in Montz at an estimated cost of $300 million to be constructed to deal with the “100-year storm.”
The federal government has already built a system for Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard and most of the east bank of St. Charles Parish. Parish officials say 45 percent of the parish has no storm protection while construction continues on a west bank levee with $21 million in local money set aside in 2008 along with grants.
Boe said they will leverage tax revenue into an estimated $157 million or more through bonds and grants.
If voters approve the measure, projects lined up for the money include:
– $30 million for the Montz levee and construction of drainage pumping stations in Montz and St. Rose.
– $268 million for west bank levee, five new pumping stations and rebuilding portions of the Sunset Drainage District levee to meet current design standards.
– $860,000 annually for operations and maintenance of east bank levee and pumping stations.
– $1.97 million annually for operations and maintenance of west bank levee and pumping stations. If voters reject the tax, parish officials say work would stop on the west bank levee project.
The sewer tax
As a sister project to levee construction, the parish also is seeking a 2.2-mill tax renewal for sewage facilities and systems, which would be levied for 30 years beginning in 2015. Boe told voters at town meetings the system is in dire need of upgrades, expansions and development to keep pace with growth residentially and commercially, as well as maintain the existing system.
If voters renew the measure, it would generate $2.6 million a year, also for 30 years. The current tax only allowed for bonds while Boe said the proposed measure would allow bonds and system upgrades.
The average homeowner uses 4,700 gallons and pays $6.78 per 1,000 gallons of water in sewer fees.
Current tax collections are being used to pay off sewer system bonds.
The ARC tax
Saying cuts are inevitable without additional funding, ARC of St. Charles says unfunded mandates and changes in program costs have sent the organization appealing to the St. Charles Parish Council to put a .7-million property tax on the ballot.
ARC Executive Director Victoria Bryant called their funding crisis “a dire situation” and held town meetings, as did parish officials, to educate and generate public support for their tax proposals. If passed, the 10-year tax is expected to generate $843,000 a year beginning in 2015 to help pay operational costs for services to residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Without the tax, Bryant said program cuts would be necessary.
Be the first to comment