These leaders want to raise your taxes. Bossier City doesn't. What's happening here?
Plus — La. Dept. of Education updates lawmakers on new laws.
Beyond Bossier
These leaders want to raise your taxes. Bossier City doesn't. What's happening here?
The Bossier Parish School Board, Benton Fire District #4, the Bossier Parish Police Jury and Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington all say they want to raise your taxes. No voter approval is required.
And yet, the City of Bossier City announced Tuesday afternoon that there would be "no tax increase for 2024."
The bullet points:
A recent reassessment by the Bossier Tax Assessor's Office raised property taxes for all homeowners in Bossier Parish due to higher values.
A millage is based on a monetary unit called a "mil" rather than a percentage. It's a tenth of a penny.
Local taxing authorities can either increase or decrease a millage due to the change in the tax 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.
The four taxing authorities noted above said they would roll forward the tax increase.
The City is bucking the rising tax trend and says it will roll back its tax rates.
The taxing authority must approve a roll forward with a supermajority vote of its voting members. No voter approval is required. For a political subdivision headed by a single local elected official, such as a sheriff, the decision is made solely by that official.
How can the City of Bossier City hold tax revenues steady while four other governmental bodies decide it's time for a tax hike? It's a question that the leaders of each of the "rolling forward" taxing authorities should answer.
The meetings where that question can be asked are as follows:
BFD #4 will hold its property tax meeting at the Bossier Parish EMS/Fire Training Complex at 5275 Swan Lake Road on Thursday, September 5, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
The School Board's next meeting is at 6 p.m. Thursday, September 5, at the Bossier Instructional Center, 2719 Airline Dr.
The Sheriff's public hearing will be held on Monday, September 9, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the conference room at the Bossier Sheriff’s Office Viking Drive Substation at 2510 Viking Drive.
Louisiana Education Department updates lawmakers on implementation of new laws
The implementation of new programs and evaluation standards highlighted the Department of Education's update in front of the House Education Committee on Tuesday.
The most important information from educators was the application of the Let Teachers Teach program, which aims to help teachers focus on teaching by reducing classroom disruptions and unnecessary bureaucracy.
The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said it's begun creating new program implementation guidelines. This includes shifting training regimens, paying for additional non-academic work, decoupling student behavior and the accountability system, limiting cellphone use in classrooms and abolishing antiquated lesson plans.
The teachers also asked state officials to "trust us, don't blame us." Brumley says that teachers feel they've been forced to be robots reading from a script, which has removed the art of teaching.
The new accountability system previously referenced has been debated in every K-12 study group and public education meeting across the state since the new leadership took over the board earlier this year. The department brought the House Committee up to speed.
Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said the accountability system was necessary to raise expectations, simplify the assessment process, and promote career and college readiness.
To do so, the system focuses on improvement cycles and coaching for the student to continuously get better rather than a heavy emphasis on testing for satisfactory grades. It also places a higher priority on career readiness rather than fixating on college preparation.
Superintendents have complained in previous education meetings that the new school grading system holds the school to an unfair standard and would lower their scores even if their students were improving.
The Louisiana Department of Education tried to ease their stress by addressing the issue of below-average students weighing too heavily on their overall scores.
"For those most concerned about school performance scores, unprepared students are taken out of the equation until they are better prepared," said Ronnie Morris, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education president.
The new plan also states that if students demonstrate engagement in the topic, they will receive proficient scores, which are a level three out of five in subject understanding.
"Heads are turning nationally to Louisiana and the K-12 education conversation."
Rep. Kim Carver, R-St. Tammany reacted to the statistic that 80% of high schools across Louisiana are scoring A's and B's under the old accountability system.
"I'm sorry that somebody maybe had an A or a B before, but the reality is maybe they didn't deserve an A or a B," Carver said.
The department finalized this section of the update by ensuring this accountability plan will allow for more common sense to be applied and will be the best course of action for children's learning and future.
"This new model is very robust. It moves away from any checking of the box type activities for evaluation," Brumley said.
The final update was on the educational choice bill, giving parents more options for where their children go to school.
In August, BESE approved the program rules and regulations for phase one of the LA Giving All True Opportunity to Rise bill passed during the legislative session in May. The board also endorsed a program administrator, Odyssey.
Even though all of these K-12 education changes are less than a year old, BESE has already noticed improvements in national polls.
"Heads are turning nationally to Louisiana and the K-12 education conversation," Morris said. "We are no longer at 49 and thanking God for Mississippi. We're at 40!"
– By Jacob Mathews/The Center Square
Improvements set for I-220, but don't expect a smoother ride
I-220 is rapidly deteriorating with heavy use from the I-20 detours, but just-announced improvements won't improve the ride. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has announced a roadway striping and pavement markings project for I-220.
The $1.2 million project is scheduled to begin on Sunday, September 8, 2024, with nighttime-only intermittent lane closures. Work includes removing and replacing all of the reflectorized raised pavement markers, pavement striping, and other related work on the roadway, as well as all of the on- and off-ramps.
The project also includes debris removal and cleaning of both the Red River Bridge and the Cross Lake Bridge.
Motorists should be aware that if they travel along I-220 at night, crews will conduct slow-moving operations to remove and install the markings once the project begins. Lane closures are permitted from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. only to minimize inconvenience and traffic disruption.
The entire project is anticipated to wrap up in late 2024, weather permitting.
Benton Rd. lane closures continue
Intermittent lane closures continue on LA 3 (Benton Road) northbound and southbound between Shed Road and Douglas Drive in Bossier City.
These lane closures are anticipated to last approximately four weeks and are necessary to allow the contractor for the ongoing Walter O. Bigby Carriageway project to install the traffic signal and striping in preparation for the opening of the newly constructed roadway.
The lane closures will be opened to traffic at the end of each work day.
The WOBC is expected to open to traffic by September 16.
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