Tax for Morgan City first responder pay passes by overwhelming margin

Nearly nine in 10 voters voted for a half-cent sales tax Saturday for Morgan City police and firefighter pay and training.

According to complete but unofficial returns from the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office, 1,083 people, or 87%, voted for the new tax, and 165, or 13%, voted against.

The turnout Saturday, when the Morgan City tax proposition was the only item on the ballot and the only election in St. Mary Parish, was 17.5%.

Saturday's result was a rarity, a tax increase that drew little public opposition, let alone organized opposition.

"I was pleasantly surprised," said Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham after the votes were counted. "I think when people found out how low the starting pay was, they supported [the tax]."

The results were especially sweet for Chad M. Adams, who has been police chief for six months. He became chief as the department wrestled with a starting pay that was significantly lower than nearby departments and after three years of high turnover.

"It was awesome," Adams said Saturday night.

Adams' predecessor, James F. Blair, warned as he retired last year that low pay for officers was contributing to an unsustainable level of turnover. At the time, the starting pay was $12.09 per hour, or about $4 less than the average for surrounding departments.

The Morgan City Council passed a $1-an-hour raise for entry-level Police Department employees and pledged to find more. Saturday's tax proposition was the result of their deliberations.

Firefighters currently start at $8.39 per hour, Cockerham said.

As officers and firefighters departed, overtime pay and training costs worsened the fiscal situation.

Now police officers are due for a $3-an-hour, across-the-board raise. Firefighters, who didn't get the earlier $1 raise, will receive a $4 raise.

The 0.5% tax goes into effect in July. Last week, the City Council introduced an ordinance implementing the new tax. The ordinance could come up for a passage vote as early as May 22. Adams said the raises could be in effect as early as September.

Cockerham said some of his firefighters were waiting to see what happened in Saturday's election before applying elsewhere.

"It should help us a lot," Cockerham said. "It'll help us recruit people and retain the people we've got."

Adams expects the election result to be a boost for morale.

"You're looking at a situation where the morale issue is pay," he said. "You fix the money problem, and everything else fixes itself."