During its meeting in the council chambers Thursday, the Ascension Parish Council adopted an ordinance to set millage rates on property taxes collected to the same levels as they were last year.
Parish Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Gwen LeBlanc said that while the rates remained the same, an increase in property values means that the parish would collect more taxes.
The reassessments were done in accordance with state law, as 2008 fell as a reassessment year for residential property.
Earlier in the week, Assessor Rene Mire Michel said she believed that the parish would see an approximate 4 percent increase in property values. She said that while the parish kept its rates the same, other taxing entities in the parish such as the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and the School Board would likely do the same.
Also during the meeting, the council voted to set the old Prairieville fire station as an area where voters who live in northern Ascension Parish could vote absentee prior to elections.
The move was made at the request of Registrar of Voters Robert Poche, who told the council that he had received questions about why such a location did not exist in the northern reaches of the parish.
“They asked me if I was going to open a branch office up there, but I just couldn’t,” Poche said. “I think this will be a great solution.”
The council also approved in the motion to make modifications to the site so that it can meet Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office standards as a voting place.
Before Thursday’s meeting, members of the council met as the Finance Committee and discussed how it can increase revenues at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.
During his report, center manager Eddie Crawford - who represents management company SMG - told the committee that while revenues figures are low, the center is still booking more events than facilities its size and even larger.
Parish government currently leases the facility, which has lost money in the past few years, from the Lamar-Dixon Foundation, with an option to purchase the site.
However, committee members questioned how the parish is still losing money – more than $1 million since taking over the facility in 2002 – if event bookings are high.
Parish President Tommy Martinez said that the center’s RV hookups have helped keep it afloat in recent months, bringing in about $750,000 of unexpected revenues.
The committee told Crawford that it would like to see a plan created to bring more high-dollar events to the center in an effort to raise revenues.
Crawford told the committee that many large-scale event coordinators are fearful of booking with Lamar-Dixon because they are uncertain about the future of the complex.
Martinez has said he would like to either restructure the lease-purchase agreement the parish has with the Lamar-Dixon Foundation or, if that cannot be done, let the voters of Ascension Parish decide if the parish should buy the facility outright.
SMG manages 250 faciliies around the world and many in Louisiana, including the Louisiana Superdome, the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner and the Baton Rouge River Center.
Martinez also introduced a proposed survey to the committee to poll public opinion on numerous topics in the parish including the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, parishwide sewer treatment and expansion of fire protection services, among others. Martinez said that the poll, to be paid for by executive funds and be distributed to 400 parish residents, would be used to gauge the public's view of prioritizing such projects and the willingness to pay a half-cent sales tax to fund them.
