DDD could seek 5-mill tax boost
“The purpose of this is to prepare ourselves for the next 20 years.” Davis Rhorer, DDD executive director
The Downtown Development District will ask the Legislature for permission to seek an increase in its millage rate from the current 10 mills to up to 15 mills. But the head of the DDD said Tuesday its board has not yet decided how much it will ask voters to approve.
The potential millage increase is part of a broader strategic plan drawing from Plan Baton Rouge Phase II and approved by the DDD board in October, one that includes asking voters primarily to the east and north whether they want the DDD’s boundaries expanded to include them.
The millage increase, geographic expansion and “expansion of powers” of the district are all listed in the public notice posted in The Advocate on Tuesday. The bill will go before the Legislature in its next regular session in March.
“The purpose of this is to prepare ourselves for the next 20 years,” DDD Executive Director Davis Rhorer said, noting the process will take another year or two to complete.
The DDD looked last year into expanding to the east and north — including Memorial Stadium, some industrial areas and the Northdale neighborhood — or to the south, which would include some of the area between downtown and LSU.
It ultimately decided on the north and east option, with the DDD particularly interested in potential residential development and job-creating industrial opportunities there.
The strategic plan estimates that a 2.5-mill increase within the existing DDD boundary of the Mississippi River, the Capitol Complex, Interstate 10 and 110 would add another $120,000 per year to the roughly $500,000 per year generated by the existing 10-mill tax.
The current 10-mill tax in the proposed new area would generate an additional $60,000 per year. If the new area were taxed at 12.5 mills, it would generate $75,000 per year.
Rhorer said permission to ask for as much as 15 mills gives the DDD room to work out the final numbers. He noted the existing legislation gives the DDD the right to renew the tax as infrequently as 50 years, though it does so every five.
The DDD’s tax just passed last year with more than 80 percent approval. The new five-year interval began last month.
The millage increase and boundary expansion will be voted on by voters in the affected area, though the taxes are only paid by property owners and even then only on amounts above the $75,000 homestead exemption.
Rhorer said the part of the legislation about expanding the powers of the DDD would be things it would have to work out with the city-parish, including new staff positions and salaries and other strategic plan items such as a downtown design resource center for students, businesses and the public.
A part of the strategic plan recommending that the state dedicate 2 cents of the 4-cent state sales tax collected in the district to the DDD will not be part of the legislation, Rhorer said, adding that the bill has not yet been drafted.