Property-tax rates stay same

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate Ascension Section writer
• Published: Jul 9, 2009

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DONALDSONVILLE — The Ascension Parish Council is keeping property-tax rates of area taxing districts the same in 2009 as they were on the 2008 tax rolls, parish officials said.

The property taxes fund a variety of local and parishwide operations, such as lighting, libraries, drainage, health services and parish government.

Most of the rates, which range from 1 mill to 10 mills, are at their statutory maximum and will remain at those levels, Ascension Parish Chief Financial Officer Gwen LeBlanc said last week.

The Parish Council adopted the 2009 rates during a June 30 meeting in Donaldsonville.

Though parish officials did not change the rates, total assessed value in the parish is expected to rise about 7.6 percent in 2009, according to a preliminary and incomplete estimate from the parish Assessor’s Office.

Rising assessed values inside taxing districts can result in increased revenue for some taxing jurisdictions, even though property tax rates stay the same.

For instance, two parishwide 2-mill property taxes for health and mental health pulled in $3.11 million in 2008, according to a parish Finance Department chart.

Those two taxes could draw an additional $236,145 for 2009, if the Assessor’s Office estimate of projected increases in the value of properties holds true.

Assessor Renee Mire Michel said assessed-value increases in 2009 are due to growth in the parish.

Michel said total assessed value is expected to reach $830 million parishwide — $58.6 million more than in 2008. Michel noted, however, that the figures are preliminary because the 2009 tax roll is incomplete.