St. Martin School tax proposals on Fall ballot?

It appears likely that St. Martin Parish voters will face a couple of property tax proposals when they visit the polls in November.
At the school board’s finance committee meeting last week, committee chairman Burton Dupuis reminded board members that a tax dedicated to maintenance and operations approved back in 1996 expires at the end of this year.
The original approval set the tax at 1.85 mills, but that has since been lowered to 1.62 mills as the parish’s assessed tax base has increased.
Last year the tax generated $554,793 that went into the district’s general fund.

BOND ISSUE
Dupuis also suggested a timetable to bring a proposal to issue $48.3 million in general obligation bonds that would be used for capital projects around the parish.
Bonds currently being serviced by a 21.5 mills levy on assessed parish property include a $30 million issue approved by voters in 2009 and $40,350,000 OKed in 2013.
With the partial retirement of these obligations and the growth of property values, bonding attorneys advise that the parish could sell $48.3 million in bonds next year with no increase in the 21.5 mills levy.
The board has not yet expended all of the money generated by the 2009 and 2013 bond issues although a number of projects are currently underway or in the planning stages.
Dupuis suggested that Superintendent Dr. Lottie Beebe present a list of new capital projects needed across the parish, with estimated costs, along with a list of unfunded projects from the 2013 program at the board’s June 3 meeting.
Under the timetable, the board would confirm its intent to call an election at its July 8 meeting, and on Sept. 2 formally adopt the call and finalize the projects to be funded with the bond proceeds.
If the board goes through with these plans, the issues would be on the Nov. 21 election ballot.

2015 LEVY
In a related matter, board members adopted the district’s property tax rate for levying during 2015, maintaining the 33.84 level that has been in effect since 2012.
The amount includes taxes of 8.16, 1.62 and 2.56 mills for varous school maintenance and operations, and 21.5 mills for bond service.
Property taxes levied by the school board have decreased by 8.1 mills (19 percent) over the past 20 years, dropping from 41.94 in 1995 to the current level as property values across the parish grew.