Berwick looks at festivals, ordinances on taxes and stray animals

BERWICK — The Town Council on Tuesday praised a contribution to one festival and paved the way for another.
The council gave Beacon Shines On recognition to Katherine Broussard, who organized last month’s Lighthouse Festival pageant. Members also approved plans to have the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival Blessing of the Fleet on the Berwick side of the bay this year.
The council introduced an ordinance to feed the town kitty by rolling forward two property tax levies after this year’s reassessment. When it comes to feeding kitties literally, another ordinance introduced Tuesday would prohibit putting out food for stray cats, and stray dogs, too. The ban is put forward as a public health measure.
Festivals
The council gave a certificate of merit to Broussard “in recognition of outstanding service to the community.”
The June 8 pageant crowned 11 girls and women to preside at this year’s festival, scheduled for Nov. 1-3 on the Berwick riverfront.
The festival will feature live music, food, fireworks, arts and crafts, and more.
Berwick’s starring role in the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival will be the Blessing of the Fleet, set for 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 1.
The 89th edition of the festival will run from Aug. 29-Sept. 2.
Ordinances
This is a reassessment year, when parish assessors set the value of taxable property in parishes and municipalities. The Louisiana Constitution says that an increase in assessed valuation must be followed by a rollback in property tax rates so that reassessment doesn’t result in additional tax revenue.
The council or board can raise the property tax rates back to their pre-reassessment levels to gain the added revenue. But that move requires a vote by two-thirds of the members of the board or council.
That’s what the Berwick ordinance would do. Reassessment would drop the town’s general purpose property tax millage of 12.88 to 12.66, and its maintenance and improvements millage of 6.0 mills to 5.9.
The ordinance would return the rates to 12.88 mills and 6.0 mills.
The combined difference of 0.32 mills from rolling the rates forward again would amount to $3.20 on a home with a market value of $100,000 and $6.40 on a $200,000 home. Louisiana’s homestead exemption doesn’t apply to municipal property taxes.
The prohibition on feeding stray animals forbids “the placing of dog or cat food, or similar food products of consumable materials attractive to dogs and cats which may result in dogs and cats congregating thereon on a regular basis. …” It applies whether the food is left on the ground or placed in a feeder.
The ordinance defines a stray as “an unlicensed domestic or feral dog or cat running at large and unaccompanied or uncontrolled by an owner.”
The ordinance says large populations of strays “pose a hazard to human health and safety as much as such animals provide a fruitful breeding ground for infectious diseases … and may otherwise bite or attack humans and domestic animals.”
The threats include rabies, distemper, fleas, ticks, and attracting raccoons and rodents, the ordinance says.
The ordinance sets a fine of $50 for a first violation, $100 for the second and $200 for the third and subsequent offenses. There would be exceptions for veterinarians and government and nonprofit employees who have custody or manage stray animals.
Under the normal procedure, both ordinances would come up for a public hearing and a passage vote at the Aug. 13 Town Council meeting.