The House’s taxing committee voted down legislation this week that would have prohibited local governing bodies from rolling millages forward more than once a year. House Bill 226, a proposed constitutional amendment by Rep. Dee Richard of Thibodaux, who has no party affiliation, was rejected by a vote of 6-8 by the House Ways and Means Committee.
It was yet another example of the Legislature’s unwillingness this session to get behind legislation that cracks down on the practice of rolling forward millages. Several similar bills—at least ten from both chambers—have also been canned for the ongoing session.
When property values increase following the normal four-year reappraisals, Louisiana law requires local bodies to automatically roll back their millages—basically property taxes—to produce the exact same amount of money. But the law also allows these local entities, like a levee or library board, to roll forward millages with a two-thirds vote to accomplish the same goal – despite what voters may have originally approved. There are even some instances where a millage can be increased past the limit that was endorsed on the ballot.
Richard, for one, argues that the elections held for these property tax increases are often needed, but they don’t draw much participation. Limiting taxing bodies to one election per year would be a fix, he adds. “Most of these elections are discreet when they do these things,” Richard says. “Even if they advertise them, most people aren’t concerned.”
Dan Garrett, general counsel for the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, says the practice is being overstated and that during the past year 60% of all parish school boards chose not to roll their millages forward. “Only a very small number ever actually roll their millages forward,” he says.
Garrett says there is substantive legislation moving through the process that offers protections for property owners. Specifically, he’s referring to House Bill 380 by Rep. George Gregory Cromer, a Slidell Republican. The proposal adds new requirements for public notices of millage roll forwards that are not subject to voter approval.
In the Upper Chamber, Republican Sen. Jack Donahue of Mandeville has also been pushing a constitutional amendment that would allow only elected bodies, like the school board, to roll forward or increase a millage after it has been approved by voters. Donahue’s Senate Bill 37 would also require all roll-forward millage elections to be held on the same dates as gubernatorial and congressional elections.
