Confusion over property tax rates in Baker, Louisiana almost led to lower tax bills and a $271,000 budget cut for public schools. The Baker City School Board voted to keep its property tax rate at 43.2 mills, but thought they needed a supermajority of four for the item to pass. However, this was not necessary, and the Acting Superintendent corrected the record. Lowering the tax rate would have complicated a key district initiative, which aims to increase teacher pay from $41,303 to $52,000 annually. The district has suggested raising class sizes, closing a campus, and eliminating administrative positions to finance the pay boost.
As mentioned in a news article on recent reports, there was confusion over property tax rates in Baker, which almost led to lower tax bills for residents and an accompanying $271,000 budget cut for cash-strapped public schools in the small city north of Baton Rouge.
The Baker City School Board voted 3-2, a simple majority, to keep its property tax rate at 43.2 mills. However, school leaders believed they needed a supermajority of four for the item to pass. It turns out that they were wrong.
In a statement issued by Acting Superintendent J.T. Stroder, he corrected the record based on information he received from the office of Tax Assessor Brian Wilson. “The two-thirds or greater requirement was not necessary for resolution providing the millage rates for the current tax year,” Stroder said.
Lowering the tax rate would have complicated a key district initiative. Stroder has laid out an ambitious pay raise proposal that would raise the annual pay of Baker starting teachers from $41,303 to $52,000. The raise would lift Baker from near the bottom to the second-highest paying district in the Baton Rouge region.
To finance such a pay boost, the district has suggested it would raise class sizes, close the campus where Baker Middle operates, and eliminate several administrative positions. Declining sales tax collections and continued enrollment declines, leading to less state education funding, are forcing another $300,000 in budget reductions.
The School Board is scheduled to vote on the proposed pay raise when it meets Tuesday night, and the plan would lift salaries for all Baker employees.
Since it broke away from the East Baton Rouge Parish school system in 2003, Baker schools have maintained their property tax at the maximum rate allowed by voters. The city school board is obliged to vote annually to set those property tax rates. Most years, a simple majority will suffice. But every four years, when parishes in Louisiana reassess all residential property, the threshold increases to a supermajority, what’s known as “roll forward.” If the board fails to muster a supermajority, then there is a “roll back,” where millage rates are reduced to the rate necessary to generate the amount of revenue as was generated prior to the reassessment.
The last reassessment in East Baton Rouge occurred in 2020, and the next is set for 2024.
At the May 25 board meeting, everyone present thought they needed a supermajority of four votes. However, the confusion over property tax rates has been cleared, and there is no need to lower the tax rate, which would have affected the district’s financing of the pay raise proposal.
It is important to note that the proposed pay raise would significantly uplift Baker’s starting teachers’ salaries, making it one of the highest-paying districts in the Baton Rouge region. This is a positive development for the district, considering the challenges it faces with declining sales tax collections and enrollment declines leading to less state education funding.
To cap it all off, the correction of the record regarding the property tax rates in Baker is a welcome development, and it is hoped that the district can continue to make progress in its efforts to improve education outcomes for its students.
Photo Credit: elon.edu
