Money running out, St. Tammany Parish Council puts sales tax for jail, courthouse back on ballot

St. Tammany Parish voters will be hearing a lot over the coming months about why parish government needs a 4/10ths-cent sales tax, which the Parish Council decided Thursday to put on the Oct. 9 ballot.

Chris Masingill, head of the parish’s economic development agency, explained to the council why a revenue review panel decided to recommend a sales tax, even though voters had rejected sales tax renewals for the jail and courthouse three times in a row.

Two quarter-cent sales taxes, which generated $24 million a year to run the jail, 22nd Judicial District Court and the District Attorney’s office, expired in March of 2018, leaving the parish with no recurring revenue source to meet those state-mandated operations.

Since then, the parish has been using reserves, but that money will run out completely early next year, officials say.

A committee tasked with finding a solution, recommended a single sales tax to meet those costs, rather than separate measures for the jail and courthouse. Also, the proposed tax would have a seven-year life span, specifically dedicated to covering the state-mandated costs.

While the committee did consider seeking a property tax or a combination of sales and property taxes, Masingill said it would have taken nearly 10 mills to generate the $22.4 million annually that the 4/10ths-cent sales tax would provide.

The parish also faces a time crunch, he said, since a property tax passed in the fall could not be collected until 2023, after the reserve funds run out.

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Thursday’s Parish Council meeting was first chance that the public has had to weigh in on the question, but while previous sales tax measures proved to be quite controversial, only one person spoke against the council’s resolution, Jim Harlan, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee.

Harlan said sales taxes put the burden of paying for government on the backs of poor people and urged the council to instead offer voters an option of a sales tax or a property tax.

Harlan also criticized the process, saying that the public was not able to participate in the revenue committee meetings.

But Parish Council President Mike Lorino said that a motion to put a property tax on the ballot was offered several times in the revenue committee meetings, but drew no support from the members.

Masingill said that the committee stressed the need for educating the public on why the tax was on the ballot, including the potential consequences of insolvency, lost services and lost jobs should the measure fail.

Several Parish Council member echoed that sentiment.

“We did not do a good job of communicating,” council member Rykert Toledano said of previous, failed attempts to get voters to approve the sales taxes. “This is not lagniappe in any sense of the word. It’s critical funding for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and the DA, and I expect them to be fully on board.”

The Parish Council voted 12-1 to put the sales tax on the ballot, with council member T.J. Smith casting the only dissenting vote. Council member Steve Stefancik was absent.

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