Drainage district, fire district tax renewals pass

Voters in two St. Mary special purpose districts overwhelmingly approved tax renewals Saturday.

In Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A, in the Morgan City-Amelia-Siracusa area, a 2.79-mill property tax renewal passed 783-393, or 81%-19%.

The tax raises about $385,000 a year.

The district is in charge of a series of pump stations designed to move water outside the local levee system during heavy rain. After the widespread home flooding during Hurricane Francine in September, local officials obtained Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority funding for pump station upgrades. But the district's board said the tax renewal was still important for flood control during the coming storm season should the upgrades not be in service by then.

The renewal is for 10 years. Saturday's turnout was 6.9%, according to complete but unofficial returns from the Secretary of State's Office.

Also Saturday, voters in a single Cypremort Point precinct approved renewal of a 2-mill property tax for Fire Protection District No. 1. The vote was 23-1, or 96%-4%, in a turnout of 34.8%.

The renewal is for 10 years. It raises $60,000 a year.