Bossier Parish School Board reverses its property tax hike proposal
Plus — Early voting sets a new statewide day-one record; more than 8,300 votes are cast in Bossier Parish in the first two days.
Beyond Bossier
Bossier Parish School Board reverses its property tax hike proposal
The Bossier Parish School Board has released new details on its property tax "roll forward" plan. Like the Bossier Parish Police Jury, it appears the school board is backing down from a property tax hike.
The new information was issued in a YouTube video released by the BPSB.
"We are excited about a creative and what I have considered just a brilliant plan from our finance department on how to maximize monies in Bossier Parish," Superintendent Jason Rowland said.
BPSB had previously issued a public notice of its intent to "to consider levying additional or increased millage rates without further voter approval" at a meeting on October 31.
The tax notice estimated that the increased millage would generate $86,745,406.13 in tax revenues and $4,253,341.49 in tax increases in the next year.
Apparently, that has changed.
Bamburg credited with new tax plan
"You know, we sat down with our chief financial officer, Nicia Bamburg, and she is really the brains behind this entire plan," Rowland said.
A recent reassessment by the Bossier Tax Assessor's Office raised property taxes for all homeowners in Bossier Parish due to higher values. Local taxing authorities can either increase or decrease a millage due to the change in the tax-value base. A "roll back" of a millage lowers the tax rate to compensate for the increased valuation — meaning property owners pay the same amount of taxes. A "roll forward" of a millage allows the taxing authority to gain additional revenue from the reassessment — in effect, a tax hike.
"We're looking at like a 2.99 mil increase as a result of the roll forward," Bamburg said. "The debt service [millage], though, we're going to be lowering it by 3.5 mils. And so that's where we're getting a net decrease for the public."
How much will taxpayers save?
For example, Bamburg said on a property valued at $250,000, "I think it's about $280 in net savings for that particular homeowner. And that's as a result of these individual millages. Now, I can't say what other jurisdictions have done."
The specially called meeting and subsequent school board vote will be held at the Bossier Instructional Center, 2719 Airline Drive, on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.
Early voting across Louisiana sets a record on day one; Bossier Parish voters cast over 8,300 in first two days
Louisiana set a new record for the first day of early voting, slightly exceeding its total from four years ago when officials had to take measures for the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Louisiana Secretary of State's office, 176,882 voters cast ballots Friday for the November 5 election. That’s 1.3% more than the 174,533 votes submitted on day one of early voting in the 2020 election.
The Bossier vote
Through Saturday, 8,323 early votes had been cast in Bossier Parish. Of the total, 2,093 were Democrats, 4,796 were Republicans, and 1,434 were other. In-person voting accounted for 5,022 votes, while 3,301 were absentee ballots.
This year’s early voting period in Louisiana ends October 29. Polls are open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily except Sundays.
Trends in early voting
Early voting has been available in Louisiana since 2008. Turnout by party has historically leaned heavily in favor of Democrats, who have accounted for roughly half or more of the state’s early voters in each of the past four presidential elections.
However, Republicans held an edge statewide through the first two days of early voting this year. Republicans cast 113,269 votes to 103,806 for Democrats. “Other” voters accounted for 42,437 votes.
Another early trend: Far more women have already voted early than men in Louisiana, with 148,773 showing up through day two. Their male counterparts accounted for 110,630 votes.
Black early voter turnout in Louisiana was down on day one from four years ago. They cast one-fourth of all ballots Friday compared with nearly one-third in 2020. Over the entire early period in 2020, Black voters comprised nearly 30% of all voters.
The high mark over an entire early voting period in Louisiana was set four years ago with 986,428 for the presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
– By Greg Larose/Louisiana Illuminator. Additional reporting by BossierNow.
On the ballot: What's that amendment about?
You will see one state constitutional amendment on the November 5 ballot entitled:
"CA No. 1 (Act No. 408, 2024 - HB 300) - Provides relative to federal proceeds from alternative energy production"
What's that all about? Here are the details.
The Amendment reads, “Do you support an amendment to require that federal revenues received by the state generated from Outer Continental Shelf alternative or renewable energy production be deposited into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund?”
The Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, breaks down the current situation and the arguments for and against the measure.
Current situation: Louisiana created the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Fund in 1989 to provide a dedicated source of money to the effort. Voters in 2006 agreed to change the fund’s name to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund and make it the primary source of financing for state efforts to respond to coastal land loss and pay for hurricane protection needs.
The constitutionally protected trust fund already receives dedicated oil and gas money from state and federal sources; settlement and recovery dollars from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill; state surplus dollars allocated by lawmakers; and other financing sources.
The trust fund's money pays for barrier island restoration, diversion projects, flood risk reduction efforts (levees, floodgates and pump stations), marsh creation and other work aimed at safeguarding Louisiana’s residents and businesses along the coast.
The entire amount that the Louisiana state government receives from the act, known as GOMESA, goes into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund to help pay for projects.
A bill signed by the governor earlier this year dedicated in law the money Louisiana receives from alternative or renewable energy sources generated on state lands and water bottoms in the coastal area to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.
PROPOSED CHANGE: The amendment would expand the dedication to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund to add federal money Louisiana receives from offshore wind, solar and other alternative or renewable energy sources generated in federal Gulf waters off the state’s coast.
A VOTE FOR WOULD: Dedicate federal money Louisiana receives from alternative energy production offshore to the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, which can only be used on projects aimed at safeguarding the coastal area.
A VOTE AGAINST WOULD: Allow federal money Louisiana receives from alternative energy production offshore to flow into the state general fund, where it can be spent on any legislative priority.
YOU DECIDE: Currently, that money would flow into the state general fund where it can be spent in any manner chosen by the Louisiana Legislature. A small amount would go to the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. The federal government hasn’t yet authorized revenue sharing with states from alternative energy production in the Outer Continental Shelf so it’s unclear if Louisiana will receive money from such operations, according to a nonpartisan analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Office.
ARGUMENT FOR: Louisiana doesn’t have enough money to pay for its coastal restoration and protection master plan. Most of the settlement and recovery dollars from the oil spill will be spent by the end of 2031. The state needs to identify other dollars to help cover its planned projects, and available state general fund dollars will be limited. Using dollars from energy production off the coast is appropriate because Louisiana’s coastal communities support and service the offshore industries that contribute to the nation’s energy production.
ARGUMENT AGAINST: Locking up dollars from offshore energy production to the coastal fund will give lawmakers less flexibility to make their own budget decisions and set their own financial priorities for the state. Already, lawmakers have control over only a small portion of the dollars in the state budget; this amendment will worsen that. The dollars Louisiana receives from alternative energy production should be shared across the whole state because north and central Louisiana have just as many needs as the coastal region.
Burn ban in effect in Bossier Parish
A burn ban continues for Bossier Parish and is expanding to neighboring parishes in Louisiana and counties in Texas and Arkansas.
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