Caddo Parish Commission votes to keep millage rates the same, adding to criminal justice deficits

CADDO PARISH, La. ( KTAL/KMSS ) – The Caddo Parish Commission held a special meeting to vote on millage rates. Two ordinances were considered.

The commission passed ordinance 6471 to advance taxes for next year, as property tax values are reassessed every four years.

However, ordinance 6472 was voted down as the commission voted to keep revenue from taxes the same. Ordinance 6472 would have increased the tax to the maximum level that citizens voted on.

Erica Bryant, Caddo Parish administrator and CEO, said that the commission was able to vote without further voter approval because citizens already voted on the maximum increase amount at the last renewal.

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"We can only set the rates to the authorized level that the citizens voted on so if the citizens established the rate at five, that is the maximum we can go is five and that was the consideration today," said Bryant.

According to the president of the Caddo Parish Commission, Commissioner John-Paul Young for District 4, the vote signifies "a tax cut on the millage for the maximum that could be charged."

Young says the commission has not raised taxes in decades, and people are getting a tax break because of jail deficits.

"The change that we voted against today was $1.2 million of increased revenue coming in that would help fill a $4 million hole at our juvenile detention center and a $2 or $3 million hole at our adult jail," said Young.

Bryant says that the budget will be adjusted to account for a lower-than-anticipated revenue.

"Well, criminal justice is the problem area that we had, and all of this money was going- most of the money was going towards our criminal justice – so now that we have reduced revenues, we do have to make some adjustments in that area."