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Officials: Bad timing for taxes

St. Mary Parish School Board members who are considering a new sales tax shouldn’t count on support from the leaders of two local governments.
Without mentioning the School Board specifically, Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi and Parish President David Hanagriff both said the timing is wrong for a tax increase as they spoke at a forum on local development.
The School Board has been caught in the same snare as other local governments over the last five years. As the economy has slumped, so has income from taxes. At the same time, the parish public schools have had to cope with declining enrollment and increasing instructional demands.
Last week, the board set a Dec. 12 public meeting to talk about a possible 0.5% sales tax election.
Grizzaffi and Hanagriff attended Tuesday’s St. Mary Excel meeting, with the Urban Land Institute study on Morgan City and Berwick development on the agenda.
Local agencies talked about progress toward boosting the local economy. But Grizzaffi said a tax increase might undo some of the work.
“One thing that can hurt our community is to tax ourselves to death,” Grizzaffi said.
Hanagriff agreed, saying the parish should present itself as ready to welcome new business.
“Now is not the time to raise taxes in any way, shape or form,” Hanagriff said.

ST. MARY NOW

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