Property millage rates topic of forums

LAFAYETTE — The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office and Lafayette Parish School Board will hold public meetings Wednesday to discuss keeping property tax millages at the current rate to bring in more revenue.

Property values are estimated to be up with this year’s reassessment. Public agencies can either allow the millages to be reduced automatically so they generate the same revenue as they did before reassessment, or they can act to keep the millages at the same rate.

Rolling a millage forward at the same rate generates additional revenue because the tax is applied to higher property values.

The Sheriff’s Office hearing and meeting is scheduled at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Sheriff’s Office’s downtown administration building, 316 W. Main St. Rolling forward its millage at the same rate could produce an additional nearly $1.5 million for Sheriff’s Office operations, according to a public notice.

The School Board will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. and a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on whether to roll forward its millage rate, which could increase tax revenue by nearly $2.5 million. The school district uses property tax proceeds as a source of funding for general operations, such as salaries and benefits and for facilities operation and maintenance.