Teacher pay sales tax is back on School Board agenda

The St. Mary Parish School Board is set to decide Thursday whether to ask voters for a sales tax to increase teacher and staff pay.
A proposed 0.45% sales tax for teacher and staff pay is on the agenda for the 5 p.m. Thursday board meeting at the Central Office complex in Centerville.
The tax would raise about $4 million a year, said Chief Financial Officer Alton Perry. School Board members are likely to propose a $3,000 annual raise for teachers and a $1,500 raise for other employees. The tax would take effect in July under the timeline.
An attempt to pass a similar tax earlier this year ran into a series of political and practical obstacles before the board decided to remove the proposal from consideration.
School officials have said they need to raise salaries to remain competitive in attracting new teachers and other employees. Last year, they pointed to a 0.5% sales tax proposal for teacher pay in Lafourche Parish, which, like St. Mary, is in line to attract newly trained teachers from Nicholls State.
Lafourche also withdrew its tax proposal from consideration.
The St. Mary School Board originally passed a resolution asking voters for a 0.5% sales tax, with the proceeds going into a technology fund as well as to faculty and staff pay.
The proposal ran into opposition almost immediately from Parish President David Hanagriff and Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi over the potential impact on St. Mary’s economy.
State Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, also objected to the inclusion of the technology fund and to putting the tax on a spring ballot. Allain’s opposition was especially significant because, as chairman of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee, he sits on the State Bond Commission, which must approve the call for a tax election.
Allain said he recognized the need for more teacher pay. But if the technology fund was included, he said, he’d insist on a Nov. 3 election, when turnout would be higher.
The board eventually removed the technology fund from the dedication and reduced the proposed tax to 0.45%. On the second try, the Bond Commission approved the call for the 0.45% tax.
The ballot language developed by the Secretary of State’s Office didn’t match what the board intended. That and the COVID-19 pandemic led the board to remove the tax from consideration by voters.
Allain doesn’t seem inclined to be more supportive of the proposed tax increase this time around.
At a St. Mary Chamber luncheon last week, Allain said he believes teachers deserve more pay. But the timing is bad, he said.
“We’re hurting,” Allain said after the luncheon. “If you add an additional burden, we’ll be hurting more.”