Public gets a vote on consolidated drainage tax

Staff Report
The consolidation of two drainage districts may not look like the stuff of high politics.
But the St. Mary Parish Council’s consolidation of districts serving Morgan City and Amelia has been the subject of debate since the council made the move in April. And it remains controversial with a proposition to combine the property taxes for the combined districts into a single millage that appears on the Dec. 5 ballot.
Early voting is underway now and continues 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at either the Parish Courthouse in Franklin or the Registrar of Voters Office, 301 Third St. in Morgan City.
The tax proposition is for residents of St. Mary Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A, which was formed by combining District No. 2 in the Morgan City-Siracusa area and District No. 6 in the Amelia area. It would replace the separate property taxes that had been collected by the separate districts with a single property tax of up to 7.30 mills for 10 years beginning in 2021.
A mill is 1/10th cent of tax applied to every $1 of a property’s assessed valuation. The ballot language says the 7.30 mills would raise about $1.3 million per year.
Consolidating the district’s patchwork of more than 40 taxing districts has long been a goal of some members of the St. Mary business community. And in April, the Parish Council moved in that direction by voting 8-3 to merge the two districts.
Parish President David Hanagriff was the most visible proponent of the consolidation. Hanagriff said the merger would reduce administrative overhead and put both districts in better position to perform their work.
The council appointed a new board composed of Leroy Trim, Larry Aucoin, Charlie Solar Jr., Dr. Tim Tregle and Hanko Hoffpauir and voted to put the tax proposition on the ballot.
But some opposition developed from people concerned that either Amelia or Morgan City would end up paying taxes for work in the other community.
There was also some pushback over the effect on District No. 2, which over five or six years had pulled itself together after a scandal over district work performed by a company belonging to a district staff member.
A new district board went on to perform its portion of a multimillion-dollar levee improvement project and launch an extensive upgrade of the pump stations that protect Morgan City from flooding inside the levees.
Parish Council Chairman Dean Adams challenged the appointment of Tregle to the consolidated board, saying Tregle is a parish employee in a position to influence consolidation decisions. Adams asked the State Ethics Board to consider the question.
Hanagriff denied that any conflict exists and noted that Adams had voted for the slate of new board members. Adams responded that the proposed board included good people and that they were nominated together for a single vote.
The Ethics Board decided not to take up the question.
Hanagriff and Adams debated the topic indirectly again in a pair of live-streamed appearances locally.
Hanagriff appeared on a KQKI Facebook stream to clear up what he said is misinformation about the tax proposition.
The Dec. 5 proposition won’t increase taxes, Hanagriff said. The resulting tax will be 6.68 mills across the combined district.
“If anything, we’ve lowered the main amount,” Hanagriff said.
Voting down the tax proposition won’t reverse consolidation, he said. But it would create a situation in which the new district would require three audits for separate district finances and the consolidated district’s finances.
He also said rumors that passing the tax would lead to the decertification of the local levees are untrue.
“By consolidating Morgan City and Amelia, we’ll be able to save money by sharing those costs.
“By bringing them together, by bringing their resources together, together they’ll be stronger than they are separately.”
In a KBZE live stream, Adams urged voters to say no to the proposition.
Adams said Amelia had the opportunity to lower the tax there by 2 mills but didn’t at the urging of the parish administration.
“All the money will go into one pot,” Adams said. “The money will be distributed according to how the board sees fit.
“One of the two districts will suffer.”
Also on the Dec. 5 ballot:
—The runoff between Lee Dragna and Kevin Voisin for Morgan City mayor.
—The runoff between Anthony “Tony” Saleme and Natalie Broussard for the 16th Judicial District Division F judgeship.
—The runoff between “Alicia” Butler and Roger P. Hamilton Jr. for the 16th Judicial District Division H judgeship.
—A state constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to appoint out-of-state residents to at-large posts on the state’s three college and university governing boards.