Article Image Alt Text

The Daily Review/Bill Decker
The May 9 ballot is likely to include a property tax renewal for operation and maintenance of Morgan City Municipal Auditorium.

Mayor's race taking shape; tax measures headed for ballot

If you didn’t get enough politics in 2019, you’ll love 2020.
In addition to presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections, a Morgan City mayor race and at least two tax propositions will appear on local ballots next year.
The tax propositions are a property tax renewal for Morgan City Municipal Auditorium and a new half-cent sales tax for parish public schools, both likely to appear on the May 9 ballot.
Parish Councilman Kevin Voisin and shipyard owner Lee Dragna, both of whom ran against current incumbent Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi in 2012, say they’re planning to run for mayor again in the Nov. 3 primary.
In the campaign to succeed Grizzaffi, who is term-limited, expect to hear a lot about the economy.
“We need to jump-start our economy and try to diversify our economy, too,” Voisin said.
As a Parish Council member, Voisin has had to deal with the effects of a 5-year economic downturn that depressed tax revenue. He said things may finally be looking up.
“The people I’ve been talking to are saying the phone is ringing and people are getting a few jobs,” Voisin said.
But the region can’t depend on the oil industry anymore, Voisin said. And he’s willing to take a no-new-taxes pledge while maintaining the current level of services.
Economy diversification is at the top of Dragna’s list, too. And he agrees that Morgan City must rely less on the oilfield.
Dragna said he’s the man to help the economy. He pointed to his two shipyards, their 180 employees and a $40 million-$45 million backlog, plus contacts developed while doing business with NASA and Space X.
And Dragna said he’d like to bring the city together again.
“It needs to be the way it used to be when everyone came here to work and everybody knew each other,” Dragna said.
Another rumored potential candidate, City Councilman Louis Tamporello, said Tuesday that he has no current plans to run for mayor but he isn't ruling it out, either.
In 2012, with a big turnout and the Obama-Romney presidential race at the top of the ballot, Grizzaffi got 35% of the primary vote in a five-candidate field. Dragna won the second runoff spot with 19%.
Voisin, who has served three terms from Parish Council District 7 and is nearing the end of a second term from at-large District 11, finished out of the running in 2012 with 14%.
In the general election, with a smaller turnout on a December Saturday, Grizzaffi beat Dragna 69%-31% to earn the first of his two terms.
Long before the mayoral election, Morgan City voters will be asked to renew the 2-mill property tax for the auditorium. The City Council approved a resolution Tuesday asking the state government to put the renewal on the May 9 ballot.
The tax raises $230,000 to $278,000 a year for the auditorium’s operation and maintenance, depending on the city’s assessed valuation.
Another property tax, established to service a debt that is being paid off, is also scheduled to expire next year. It amounts to about a mill, depending on the debt service requirements for that year.
The City Council talked briefly at the November meeting about asking voters to rededicate the debt service tax for some other purpose, but members haven’t taken any action.
A mill is 1/10th of a cent of tax applied to each $1 of a property’s assessed valuation. Homes are assessed at 10% of their market value.
The 2-mill tax adds $20 to the annual property tax bill for a $100,000 home. Louisiana’s homestead exemption does not apply to city taxes.
Another tax likely to appear on the May 9 ballot may prove to be more controversial.
The St. Mary Parish School Board voted Dec. 12 to ask voters for the additional half-cent sales tax before voters. President Michael Taylor argued that the board needs the added revenue to provide pay increases to teachers and staff members both as a reward for the district’s performance and to keep the district competitive.
But, without mentioning the School Board proposal directly, both Grizzaffi and Parish President David Hanagriff indicated they’d oppose new taxes. They said the parish’s economic slump make this a bad time to burden taxpayers and businesses.
Also in 2020, St. Mary residents will go to the polls to help pick a president. Republican President Donald J. Trump got 65% of the St. Mary vote in 2016.
The presidential primary date is April 4.
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, will be up for reelection in the 3rd Congressional District, which includes St. Mary. Higgins, completing his second two-year term, has drawn at least one opponent: Rob Anderson of Beauregard Parish. He ran as a Democrat in 2018, when Higgins won election in the primary.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, will also be up for reelection in November 2020. Cassidy, a physician who has been active in health care policy debates, is completing his first term since beating three-term incumbent Mary Landrieu in 2014.

ST. MARY NOW

Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874

Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255