Will Central School Board Continue Raising Taxes Every Year without a Vote of People?

 Behind the scenes, a battle has been raging between members of the Central School Board who believe property taxes should automatically go up every year and the one board member who adamantly believes there should be no property tax increases without a vote of the people of Central.

From 2007 when the Central Community School District was established until 2021, school board member Will Easley led the fight to make sure the Central school board never had an automatic across-the-board tax increase without a vote of the people.  Tax collections rose by new properties being added to the rolls but not on existing property. Or they went up because the people voted for a new or increased tax, such as for improvements at Central High School.

When Will Easley retired from the school board in January 2021, the Central School Board appointed Phil Graham as his replacement.  Mr. Graham immediately began promoting the idea that the school board should roll property taxes forward, thereby raising millage rates and taxes without a vote of the people.

For the first time, the Central School Board voted to roll property taxes forward.  The vote was 5-2, just enough to meet the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds’ majority.

In November 2021, when Phil Graham ran for the remainder of Will Easley’s term (through Dec. 31, 2022), he was challenged by Kim Powers, a Central mom and advertising manager of the Central City News.  Her main issues were his vote to roll forward property taxes without a vote of the people and the board’s support for mandatory masks on students.  After a hard fought campaign, Ms. Power won with 62 percent of the vote.

Then in the spring of 2022, the Central School Board with Mr. Graham gone from the school board and Ms. Powers in his place, the school board once again voted to raise property tax millages without a vote of the people. This time the vote was 6-1 for higher taxes with only Ms. Powers voting no.

Ms. Powers said she was really surprised by the vote.  “I felt my election demonstrated that people in Central do not want to see their property taxes go higher and higher every year.  However, I don’t believe the school board was listening to what people were saying,” she said.

“You must remember that the Central Community School District is flush with money. We have many millions in reserve. Plus, people in Central are already paying some of the highest school property taxes in the State of Louisiana.  Property tax collections go up every year because of new construction, improvements, and the sale of property at higher prices.  There is no need to increase the rate of taxation.  It is wrong to quietly, almost secrety sneak through higher property taxes every year without going to the public.  Mr. Will Easley always believed and I believe that if we on the school board think we need more taxes, we should simply ask the voters to go to the polls and decide.  We know they will likely say yes, if it is really needed, but they will probably say no if it can’t be justified.”

Powers said, “This is not about being anti-tax. This is about how taxes will be imposed.  Like Will Easley, I believe taxes should be limited and certainly not increased without a vote of the people.”

Dr. Keith Holmes, a Central School Board member who is not seeking reelection, has been a leading voice for rolling forward property taxes.  He said it is important to roll taxes forward, or else the school board will lose that taxing authority.

Opponents of rolling forward say that’s just an argument to raise tax rates year after year.

How candidates stand on rolling forward property taxes is likely to be a key issue in this fall’s election to the Central School Board.  Since it takes five votes on the seven member school board to raise or roll forward property taxes, Kim Powers is hoping voters return her and elect at least two other school board members who are committed against rolling forward property taxes.

How Rolling Forward Property Taxes Works in Louisiana. 

One of the main reasons the Louisiana Legislature called a Constitutional Convention back in 1972 was to revise the Louisiana Constitution’s property tax provisions. The federal courts had ruled Louisiana’s property tax system unconstitutional.

At that time, Louisiana had a statewide property tax. However, parish assessors assessed property in widely different ways. As a result, a property worth $100,000 in one parish might be assessed at 10 times the amount the same property would be assessed in a different parish.  That violated the equal protection provisions of the state and federal constitutions.

The new Louisiana Constitution of 1974 attempted to resolve the constitutional issues in the administration of property taxes.

The constitution provides that all land and homes will be assessed at 10 percent of its market value. Commercial property will be assessed at 15 percent of its market value.  Agricultural land is assessed at 10 percent of its use value (the value of the land for farm purposes, not development purposes).

Millage rates are then levied against the assessed valuation.  One mil equals 1/100th of one percent of the assessed value of the property. 100 mils equals one percent of the assessed value of the property.

Parish assessors throughout the state reassess property every four years. The Louisiana Legislature explains the roll forward of property taxes this way on its website:

“The Louisiana Constitution mandates that taxes collected in the year after a statewide reassessment shall neither increase nor decrease because of the change in the value of the tax base. To accomplish this, millages are automatically either increased or decreased to accommodate the change in the tax base. Further, in the case where an increased tax base causes a reduction or “roll back” of a millage, the constitution authorizes the taxing authority levying the millage the option of collecting the additional revenues to be gained from such change in the tax base by reinstating all or a portion of the millage rate imposed prior to the “roll back”. This is commonly referred to as a “roll forward”. This may be accomplished by a super-majority vote of the taxing authority which occurs at a public hearing which has been heavily advertised. There is no voter approval required.”

On the Central School Board, it takes five members of the seven-member to increase property taxes without a vote of the people. 

On the other hand, three members of the Central School Board can stop a roll forward or tax increase.