[StBernard] Levee district to collect extra taxes

[Westley Annis]

Levee district to collect extra taxes
Storm shelters also priority, panel says Friday, September 19, 2008By Sheila
Grissett
Regional commissioners agreed Thursday to roll forward the millage rates of
levee districts in East Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes, saying the extra
taxes generated as a result of increasing property values are needed to
cover increasing costs and major pending projects. 

Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East members also agreed that
a priority project in all three jurisdictions under their control, which
includes the Orleans Levee District east of the Mississippi River, will be
to provide safe shelter for the 150 or so employees who stay behind during
hurricanes to batten down the levee systems and fight flooding where
necessary. 

In East Jefferson, the district will collect an additional $1.7 million in
2008 ad valorem taxes, which will cost owners of a $150,000 home, for
example, about $8 more a year. 

The Lake Borgne Basin Levee District is operating at a $1 million deficit,
thanks mostly to Hurricane Katrina destroying St. Bernard Parish's property
tax base. Unlike most other levee districts, the Lake Borgne district also
operates and maintains parish pump stations and drainage canals, which eats
up more than two-thirds of its budget. 

Because of the homes and businesses that have been built or rebuilt since
Katrina, the recent reassessment of property in St. Bernard will generate an
additional $110,000 for the levee district. 

That extra money will add about $1.40 to the residential tax bill of a
$100,000 home in St. Bernard Parish, for example, said levee authority
President Tim Doody of Arabi. 

The total assessed value of St. Bernard Parish property is $325.7 million,
about 96 percent of the level recorded in 2004 when the last state-mandated
parishwide reassessment was conducted. 

Earlier this week, authority member Tom Jackson of Metairie, who represents
the east bank, had indicated that he would oppose rolling the millage
forward on his home turf. But Jackson changed his mind after getting
additional information from district executive director Fran Campbell before
Thursday's meeting. 

Jackson said he and Campbell have agreed to meet regularly to devise a plan
for safely sheltering the 50 or so levee district workers who are required
to stay on the job during hurricanes. 

The goal will be to find a way to house levee workers with Jefferson Parish
employees and other first responders who are sheltered in reinforced
buildings. But if necessary, authority members said they will build a
facility. 

Authority members have also promised to find a way to safely shelter
employees of the Orleans and Lake Borgne Basin levee districts. 

. . . . . . . 

Sheila Grissett can be reached at sgrissett at timespicayune.com or
504.467.1746.