Jefferson Parish's rejected taxes expired in 2012, face obstacles to ...

The parish administration has to say who failed to recognize that we did not dealt with this taxes in a timely manner. " -- Chris Roberts

The Jefferson Parish taxes for water and sewerage services that voters rejected last week had actually expired in December, some officials said Tuesday, raising questions as to whether the measures appeared improperly on the ballot as tax renewals. The expiration of the taxes may also create legal obstacles prohibiting the parish from sending the measures back to voters in October.

That could likely mean the taxes won't be collected in 2014, leaving the water and sewerage departments facing at least a combined $20 million shortfall -- a deficit that would be hard to plug without affecting services.

The new questions about the tax proposals are only likely to fuel more public unrest over the measures, which were rejected by 52 percent of voters in the water tax's case and by 53 percent in the sewerage proposition.

The Parish Council on Tuesday called for an emergency meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday (May 9) to discuss the taxes. The session, which is open to the public, will take place at the Joe S. Yenni Government Building, 1221 Elmwood Park Blvd., Elmwood. Council Chairman Chris Roberts said the parish's bond attorney will be attending. Assessor Tom Capella and Sheriff Newell Normand, who set the tax rolls and mail the tax bills, respectively, are also invited.

"The best way to get to the bottom of this is to call everybody in and ask the questions in public," Roberts said.

Roberts said the parish administration should have sought to renew the taxes months in advance of their late 2012 expiration, not last week.

"Somebody in the parish administration has to say who failed to recognize that we did not deal with these taxes in a timely manner," Roberts said.

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Rejected tax renewals in Jefferson Parish. Nola.com and The Times-Picayune Jefferson Parish politics reporter Manuel Torres and Sarah Tan Jefferson Parish public school reporter discuss the recently rejected tax renewals in Jefferson Parish. Parish Parish President John Young, in a statement, said, the administration will work with the council, public works directors and other parish officials "to explore all available options to address the impact of Saturday's election." The statement said the options "include but are not limited to whether and when to place these millages back on the ballot."

Parish Attorney Deborah Foshee, who represents both the administration and the Parish Council, said Bill Becknell, outside bond attorney for the parish, handled the millage elections and that she is seeking answers from him on the issues raised by Roberts.

The parish is scrambling after voters May 4 rejected two separate propositions to collect 5 mills each for water and sewerage for 10 years. Voters first approved the water tax more than 30 years ago and the sewerage tax in 1993, and have renewed them each decade. Ahead of last week's election, parish officials said the sewerage and water taxes would not expire until late 2013, and characterized the ballot measures as routine renewals.

But Capella on Tuesday said the taxes expired Dec. 31, 2012. Because property taxes are collected in arrears, the parish was able to collect water and sewerage taxes in the 2013 bills, mailed last November. But Capella said the taxes can't be included in the 2014 bills going out later this year unless voters approve the taxes again.

Paramount among the questions raised on the taxes, however, is whether it was proper to propose them as tax renewals after their expiration in December. If the taxes are considered new propositions instead of routine renewals, the parish would have required additional approvals -- including from the State Bond Commission -- in order to place them on the ballot.

"There are questions as to whether they should have appeared on the ballot at all," Roberts said.

If the proposals need to be presented as new taxes, the additional approvals may prevent the parish from making the Oct. 19 ballot. Propositions for that date must be sent to the secretary of state by mid-July.

In addition, under state law a new election for the same proposals can't be held until six months after the issues were rejected by voters. That would also put the Oct. 19 date out of reach.

The next election after that is Nov. 16, but Capella said his office certifies the tax rolls by Nov. 15. In addition, an approval in late fall may not leave enough time to include the water and sewerage taxes in tax bills that are usually mailed before Dec. 1. That's because it takes a few weeks to certify the election results and get the data in the tax bills, said Sheriff Normand, the parish's tax collector.

Normand said he would not be in favor of delaying tens of thousands of tax bills because that would delay revenues for all other public entities, and it would likely lead to late payments and fines for property owners.

"That's not fair to taxpayers," said Normand, who added that his office does not have the authority to waive penalties and interest for late payments.

To prevent such deadline problems, most taxing bodies usually seek to renew existing taxes about 18 months before they expire. A Jefferson Parish School Board tax that was also rejected May 4, for example, doesn't expire until the end of 2014, giving the board several more tries to persuade voters before then.

It's unclear why the parish didn't put the water and sewerage taxes for renewal before this past Saturday. The council approves ballot measures, but several council members said the administration is in charge of monitoring those issues and bringing them up for council approval in a timely manner.

The administration has not commented on the matter. But Roberts criticized Young for the delay in these two taxes, suggesting the absence of a parish finance director in 2011 may have contributed to the late election.

"Elected leaders have to set priorities. If I was Young, I'd be doing some soul searching now, because someone didn't do their job," Roberts said.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/jefferson_parish_water_sewerag.html

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