Observers and comments from voters suggest many were in a strong anti-tax mood, fueled by opposition to the Crescent City Connection tolls, a letter from the parish assessor that prompted questions among some voters about the tax renewals, and even public anger over cost overruns in the unrelated Performing Arts Center project
Jefferson Parish and School Board officials will ponder asking voters this fall to reconsider their rejection Saturday (May 4) of tax renewals for sewerage, water and schools. The prospects of a do-over come as officials are wondering what happened last weekend, saying they couldn't recall a rejection of tax renewals of this magnitude in decades.
Observers and comments from voters suggest many who voted were in a strong anti-tax mood, fueled by opposition to the Crescent City Connection tolls, a letter from the parish assessor that prompted questions about the tax renewals, and even public anger over cost overruns in the unrelated Performing Arts Center project.
"I think what happened was partially a backlash from the tolls," school board president Larry Dale said.
Some observers and officials also wondered whether voters were given enough information to understand the taxes. Parish Council members, who voted to put the sewerage and water tax renewals on the ballot, are now criticizing Parish President John Young's administration for not doing enough to publicize the proposals. School officials and the teacher's union admitted they didn't campaign as heavy as usual.
"You can never assume that a proposition will pass without having some voter education,'' political pollster Silas Lee said.
But the parish administration said it used the same protocol as the parish has used in the past.
"This administration followed the exact same scope of public outreach as the parish has used for decades," said parish spokeswoman Kriss Fortunato.
Young and Council Chairman Chris Roberts said parish officials plan to discuss asking voters to re-consider the water and sewerage measures this fall.
"We are reviewing all of our options at this point. . . including placing the renewals back onto the ballot," Young said.
Dale said the school board is considering going back to voters in the fall.
Tax proposals defeated
The decades-old tax for sewerage failed with 53 percent against. Voters also turned down, with 52 percent against, separate propositions to renew taxes for water service and to run public schools.
The school tax expires in 2014, in theory giving the school board more than one shot to try to persuade voters.
Doug Vincent, Jefferson Parish Director of Water gives a tour of Jefferson Parish Waterworks in Jefferson on April15. Parish voters May 4 rejected a proposal to renew taxes to help pay for water, sewerage and public schools. (Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com |The Times-Picayune) Parish government won't have that luxury. The taxes for water and sewerage expire this year, so they can't be collected in 2014 unless voters renew them this fall. The only election date available to avoid a gap in tax collections would be Oct. 19, because the parish's tax rolls must be certified by Nov. 15, according to parish officials.
Some officials had worried that strong opposition to the CCC tolls, which were also on the May 4 ballot, could hurt the tax renewals' chances. Voters stomped the toll measure by a large margin, 77 percent to 23 percent.
Dale said the tolls hurt the school board tax's passage.
"It's something that we got caught up in. When adults fight, children get hurt," he said.
The opposition to the tolls can't fully explain the tax defeats, however. Voters in Terrytown, where the tolls were soundly defeated, overwhelmingly renewed a 12-mill tax for the Fifth District Volunteer Fire Department that was higher than the 5 mills proposed for water and sewerage and the 7 mills proposed for schools.
Teachers' union did not campaign for tax renewal
Meladie Munch, president of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers, felt that the taxes' rejection might also have been a result of less public advocacy. Munch said that while in the past the union has sent out fliers about upcoming tax renewals, it did not do so this time because the district never provided information she had requested on the millage.
"We've never had a millage that didn't get renewed," Munch said. "I think it would have helped, maybe people were confused with what was going on. When you don't educate the public, they tend to not vote for it."
In a statement, the school district said it would improve communication with the public about the importance of the renewal before the next vote.
For their part, several parish council members pointed fingers at the Young administration, saying parish presidents have usually coordinated public education on tax proposals.
"This should serve as a wake up call as those working in parish government cannot recall a time in 30 plus years where a renewal was defeated," Roberts said.
"The lack of effort put forth to educate the public on the severity of these issues being renewed is unacceptable. You can't expect voters (to) give their backing to any tax issue that's unclear; and I can't blame them!," Councilman Ben Zahn said in a statement.
Fortunato, however, noted that the parish mailed an informational postcard to 140,000 households, included an insert about the election in all water bills and produced a video that went to news, civic and business organizations. Those groups also received numerous press releases ahead of the vote reminding them of the tax proposals, she said.
Assessor's letter raised questions among some voters
In online comments and social media in the weeks leading to the election, some parish residents also referred to a letter from parish Assessor Tom Capella sent to all parish property owners just weeks before the May 4 vote. The letter, in part, said the propositions on water, sewerage and fire protection "will result in an increase on your 2013 property tax bill." Capella's letter underlined the word "increase."
The taxes are now collected at lower rates than when voters last renewed them, so as to avoid collecting a windfall as property values rose. But as is usually the case with tax renewals, the propositions on Saturday's ballot asked voters to renew the taxes at their original, full millage.
Capella said before the election that he did not intend to influence voters one way or another. "I did not take a position in favor or against on the upcoming election," Capella said last week. But some voters cited his letter in urging others to oppose the proposals.
As expected, officials on Monday warned about the impact of not renewing the taxes, which provide about a third of the money to run sewerage and water service in most of the parish, and 30 percent of the property taxes collected for public schools.
"Ultimately, if this funding is not renewed, the cuts will present the district with significant financial challenges," the school board's statement read. "More cuts of this magnitude could serve as a threat to the educational progress that the district has made in the past two years."
Councilman Elton Lagasse said he'll ask the administration to release early the proposed 2014 budgets for the sewerage and water departments, "so that we will know the impacts and proposed cuts" if the taxes do not pass.