If it’s true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Avoyelles Parish School Board should be feeling really flattered by the Avoyelles Police Jury’s attempt to pass taxes for road repairs.
In what amounts to the idea of “it worked for them so maybe it will work for us” the Police Jury has taken the School Board’s lead on how to put tax referendums on the ballot.
At its regular June 12 meeting the Jury voted to place not one but two tax referendums on the November ballot for road repairs and resurfacing. The referendums are for a 10-mill property tax and a one-quarter cent sales tax. Both referendums are limited to 10 years.
“That’s the same way the School Board did it” and it worked, Police Juror Larry Sayes said in explaining the idea of calling for two tax referendums rather than a single, larger property tax referendum.
The catch is that for the Police Jury to get the revenue, both referendums have to pass. If only one passes and the other is voted down, it counts the same as both referendums being defeated, Sayes said.
Sayes, who is chairman of the Jury’s Finance Committee, said the referendums together should generate roughly $1.8 million annually.
The referendums are for road maintenance and resurfacing, not for building new roads. If the referendums pass they should generate enough money to allow the Police Jury to resurface all of its impoved roads in some fashion, Sayes said.
In addition to tax referendums for road repairs the Police Jury decided at its July meeting to include a tax referendum for building a courthouse annex for badly needed new courtrooms. The courtoom tax had been placed on hold at the June meeting, but will now be included on the fall ballot.
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