WBR council rolls millage rates

PORT ALLEN — The West Baton Rouge Parish Council unanimously decided Thursday night to roll forward the parish’s millage rates for the 2012 tax rolls.

According to Finance Director Phillip Bourgoyne, the adjusted tax rates will generate approximately $800,000 in additional revenue for parish coffers.

During a public hearing before Thursday night’s vote, Bourgoyne told the council that millage rates could be adjusted because property values in the parish had increased, according to the recent reassessment by the Assessor’s Office.

Bourgoyne said the assessed values of homes in West Baton Rouge Parish increased by 2.5 percent, according to the assessor’s reassessment report.

Bourgoyne added the parish saw about $2.5 million worth of new homes over the past four years. Assessors are required to reassess property values in their parishes every four years.

During reassessment years such as 2012, parish and municipal taxing bodies are required by law to “roll back” their tax rates to levels that will generate the same revenue as the previous year.

When values increase, taxing authorities have the option of voting to keep them the same, which is called “rolling them forward” to generate additional revenue.