Extra week of early voting for Aug. 15 election

St. Mary people have an extra week of early voting before the Aug. 15 election, which is all about property tax renewals.

You can vote early until 6 p.m. Saturday and then 8:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Aug. 8 at registrar of voters offices.

One issue that had been placed on the ballot, the St. Mary School Board's proposed new 0.45% sales tax for teacher and staff raises, has been withdrawn from the ballot.

Four property tax propositions remain, all of them renewals of existing taxes.

The propositions, according to the Secretary of State's Office, are:

--A tax renewal for operating and maintaining libraries for 10 years parishwide except for Morgan City, which has its own library. The 5.72-mill tax raises about $2.7 million per year.

--A property tax renewal for improvements, extensions, operation and maintenance of St. Mary Water and Sewer Commission No. 1. The renewal of the 9.99 mills tax would be for 10 years and raises $825,000 per year.

--A tax renewal in Berwick for public works projects, including recreation, roads and public safety work. The renewal of the 6-mill tax would be for 20 years and raises $180,000 per year.

--A tax renewal for operation and maintenance at Morgan City Municipal Auditorium.The 2-mill renewal for 10 years raises $786,000 per year.

Morgan City government officials have been eager to point out that after some deliberation, they are letting a 1-mill property tax for auditorium debt service expire now that the debt has been repaid.

How much will you pay?

A mill is 1/10th cent of tax applied to $1 of assessed valuation.

A property's assessed valuation is a percentage of its market value as determined by the parish assessor. Residential property, for example, is assessed at 10% of its market value.

These calculations are The Daily Review's and are not part of the official propositions approved by the secretary of state or the governing bodies.

--The 5.72-mill library tax costs the owner of a $100,000 home $14.30 in taxes each year. (The first $7,500 of assessed valuation is free of taxes under Louisiana's homestead exemption.) The owner of a $200,000 home pays $71.50.

--The 9.99-mill Water and Sewer Commission tax costs the owner of a $100,000 home $24.98 in taxes each year (again, because the first $7,500 of assessed valuation is protected from taxes). The owner of a $200,000 home would pay $124.88.

The homestead exemption doesn't apply to city taxes. So:

--The 6-mill Berwick tax costs the owner of a $100,000 home $60 a year. The owner of a $200,000 home pays $120.

--The 2-mill Morgan City Municipal Auditorium costs the owner of a $100,000 home $20 a year. The owner of a $200,000 home pays $40.

--The end of the 1-mill auditorium debt service tax saves the owner of a $100,000 home $10 a year, the owner of a $200,000 home $20 a year.