NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell wants the City Council to roll some property tax millages back up, but council members are not exactly rushing to embrace that idea.
That’s the topic of this week’s Commentary by Eyewitness News Political Analyst and Gambit columnist Clancy DuBos.
Millage rates in Louisiana automatically go down after reassessments. The idea is to make reassessment revenue neutral. But, governing bodies can roll millages back up to their previous levels, by a two-thirds vote. That’s known as the roll-back, roll-forward rule.
Mayor Cantrell wants council members to roll some millages back up, to raise $25 million for public safety and drainage. But, there are complications.
Not all properties in New Orleans got reassessed this year. If there is a roll-forward, will it apply citywide? Could there be another roll-forward next year, when other properties get reassessed? No one knows.
There’s also a 3-mill property tax proposal on the November 16th ballot, for drainage, less than a week before the council votes on a roll-forward. And, next year, several existing millages are up for renewal.
That’s a lot of tax votes in a fairly short time frame.
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