Drainage, fire district millage renewals on ballot

Some Tri-City area voters will have property tax renewals on their Tuesday ballots that local leaders say are essential for government entities to be able to continue to provide their services.

Voters in the Morgan City area will be able to vote on a 5-mill, 10-year property tax renewal for St. Mary Parish Drainage District No. 2.

As an example of how millages work, a 1-mill property tax would mean that a property owner pays $1 for every $1,000 worth of taxable property.

The drainage district millage renewal is estimated to bring in $516,000 annually from 2018 through 2027, for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, maintaining and operating gravity and forced drainage works within and for the district, according to the Louisiana secretary of state’s website.

The operations and maintenance millage renewal allows the drainage district to pay for its pumps, fuel, personnel, maintenance and repairs, District Chairman Lee Dragna said.

“Without that renewal, we cannot pump the water,” Dragna said.

Drainage District 2 operates eight pump stations in the Morgan City area. The district is in the midst of its Morgan City Levee Improvements Project. That project includes building a new pump station that will replace two other pump stations. Officials are close to finishing plans to construct that station.

The new pump station will have double the combined pumping capacity of the other two stations, Dragna said. That pump station is being paid for by a bond proposition that voters approved in March 2017.

Also on voters’ ballots Tuesday in the Amelia area is a 10-mill, 10-year property tax renewal for St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 3. The tax renewal is estimated to bring in about $665,000 annually and begin in 2020 and continue through 2029 for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining and operating fire protection facilities and equipment, the secretary of state’s website says.

Carl McAllister, assistant chief for the Amelia Volunteer Fire Department, said the department’s fire rating recently improved from a Class 5 to Class 4, which was made possible by the tax that’s up for renewal.

That improved fire rating lowered the fire portion of business insurance by 30 percent. The fire portion of homeowners insurance was lowered by 20 to 30 percent with the improved rating, he said.

“To continue doing what we are doing for the community, we will need these funds,” McAllister said of the renewal.

The fire department provides a confined space rescue team for three shipyards in the area and training for firefighters, McAllister said. Firefighters also handle medical calls in Amelia, and personnel have to be re-certified by taking medical training classes every two years, he said.