Fire district, street millages up for renewal in Lafourche Parish

Lafourche Parish residents will go to the polls Saturday to vote on property tax renewals in Lockport, Gheens and a street improvement project in Golden Meadow.

Parish officials opted to list three tax renewals on the ballot, although two of the measures won’t begin until 2011.

Fire District No. 2 is asking residents to renew a 10-year, 5.24-mill property tax. Monies gleaned from the rededication will be used to operate the Lockport fire station and to purchase fire trucks and other firefighting equipment.

If approved, the tax will take effect 2011 to 2020. The assessor’s office estimated that the tax could generate more than $190,000 for the Lockport Volunteer Fire Station.

Excluding grants and other donations, the property tax is the sole funding source for the fire district’s central station in Lockport and five substations, according to Fire District No. 2 President Armand Autin.

“We are not asking for an increase in the millage, even though the cost of fire truck pumpers continues to rise every year,” he said. “In order for us to effectively fight fires in our district, we have to be able to have better-running trucks and equipment.”

If the renewal fails, Autin said it will be difficult to maintain a fire company in the area.

In addition to its facilities, the district has six pumper trucks – one for each station house. Autin said Fire District No. 2 also has a squirt truck and a rescue mobile truck at the central station and a fireboat is located at the Belle View location.

Also on the ballot in Lafourche Parish, Fire District No. 9 is seeking the renewal of a 10-year, 10-mill property tax to maintain and purchase trucks and equipment in the Gheens area. The millage would go into effect in 2011.

If approved by voters, the tax stands to generate approximately $49,059 for the Vacherie-Gheens Volunteer Fire Company.

The money will be used to replace the company’s aging fire trucks, Assistant Fire Chief Harris Griffin said. Currently, the volunteer fire company has two pumper trucks, a rescue and salvage truck and a hose tender truck.

During the last tax cycle, the company purchased a 2001 model pumper truck, Griffin said. With this renewal, a 22-year-old pumper and a 28-year-old rescue and salvage truck will be replaced, he said.

“We normally try to get 20 to 30 years out of our trucks,” he said. “But they are more expensive now. The cost has changed since the 1980s and early 1990s. For us, it has definitely been a challenge to try and update the trucks and equipment with our budget.”

With voter approval of the millage, Griffin said the company will also renovate its firehouse.

The Town of Golden Meadow is seeking renewal of a 10-year, 5-mill property tax for improving streets. If passed, the tax will generate approximately $43,289 yearly for the incorporated town. The tax would go into effect from 2010 to 2019.

The value each homeowner will pay depends on the value of their property. However, in Gheens and Lockport, homeowners are subject to the Homestead Tax Exemption. Lafourche Parish Assessor Mike Martin said a taxpayer with a home valued at $100,000 in those areas will pay $25 and $13.10, respectively, toward the tax renewals.

Martin said Golden Meadow is not subject to the Homestead Tax Exemption. Taxpayers with a house valued at $100,000 will pay $50 toward the 5-mill tax renewal.

Lafourche Parish polling precincts will be open Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On the ballot in Lafourche:

• Fire Prot. Dist. No. 9, 10 Mills – BOC – 10 years

• Fire Prot. Dist. No. 2, 5.24 Mills – BOC – 10 years

• Town of Golden Meadow, 5 Mills – Mayor & Town Council – 10 years