BATON ROUGE — It was a busy weekend at the polls as voters across Louisiana weighed in on various propositions and millages. Some of the biggest items on ballots in Southeastern Louisiana included three propositions tied to East Baton Rouge’s Thrive proposal, a tax for the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, and two millages for Livingston Parish Fire Protection Districts. All of them failed.
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UWK spoke with Livingston Parish District 5 Fire Chief Joe Koczrowski about Saturday’s vote. Residents rejected a 5-mill property tax that would have raised $950,000 annually to expand and maintain fire facilities.
“This was a brand-new 5 mills on top of 10.14, which would have put my millage at 15 mills,” Chief Koczrowski explained. “Some of the fire departments in this parish are already at 15 mills. I was worried about the five mills because I understand the tax situation.”
Koczrowski has seen significant growth in the area over the last four decades, one of the reasons the millage was proposed.
“I’ve been in this fire department from the start of its 40 years, and I’ve watched it come from 200 calls a year to 4,000 calls a year,” he said. “I’ve watched it have 40 volunteers at one time, to six or seven active volunteers right now, and they really only come to the major calls. Volunteerism is a thing of the past in all fire service around here, and it makes it tough to pay salaries and benefits and everything else.”
Despite the ballot issue not passing, Koczrowski said he understands where residents are coming from.
“I’m a taxpayer in that district, and I have a business in that district, and I’m not crazy about new taxes either, but I thought it was a necessity. The insurance rating commission thought it was a necessity, and the taxpayers decided they were taxed too much. And I respect that,” the chief said.
Low voter turnout
Voter turnout for the millage renewal was under 10% with only 1,263 votes cast total. Across the state, voter turnout was relatively low, something Koczrowski was surprised by.
“Voter turnout was disappointing. I really thought it would be more,” he said.
Retired Louisiana State University Economics Professor Jim Richardson told UWK that low voter turnout could have played a major role in Saturday’s results.
“If you have very low voter turnout, then people with an ax to grind are more likely to win because they may come vote,” Richardson said.
In addition, he said that putting tax issues on an “awkward date” such as this past weekend sometimes means that fewer people have heard about the election unless there’s a large campaign for or against an issue. While some may think that these dates are “safe” for getting a tax passed, it also means that it’s easier for the opposition to defeat it.
“A small turnout works both ways.”
The District 5 Fire Chief said he didn’t realize that there weren’t going to be other items on the ballot, because November is often a general election time.
“If I would have known, and the Secretary of State would have said there’s nothing on the ballot for November, we wouldn’t have put it there. I would never have tried to make people think, in 40 years, that we tried to sneak an election through,” he said.
Richardson said the reasons behind the failures varied across the state. “I think the one in East Baton Rouge Parish had multiple reasons for failing,” he said. “It was a redoing of the tax structure — taking money from one area and putting it into another. People did not like that.”
He said the three Thrive propositions involved services — libraries, Council on Aging, and Mosquito Abatement — that many residents value. But skepticism about Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ broader Thrive strategy likely contributed to the defeat.
While he couldn’t weigh in on what happened with the votes in Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes, Richardson said voters may not be anti-tax so much as unconvinced they’re getting their money’s worht.
“It varies from parish to parish. These are very specific activities that people are voting for or against,” Richardson said about the proposals. “I think it focuses on whether people were happy with them.”
What’s next?
In Tangipahoa Parish, voters rejected a ¾-cent sales tax that would have replaced the current property tax millage supporting the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.
After votes were in, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker expressed his frustration on social media.
“TPSO will continue to work understaffed and underfunded. The men and women of the TPSO deserve better; better wages and much needed additional manpower.”
On Monday, Sheriff Sticker released a statement, calling the election results “a disappointment.”
“My initial statement reflected both my frustration on behalf of our deputies and my deep commitment to protecting the people of Tangipahoa Parish,” he said in an official statement.
He added that the sheriff’s office is underfunded, understaffed and underequipped, all things he hoped would have been addressed through the proposed sales tax.
“My comment’s intent was to highlight the stark reality of how thin our resources are stretched,” Sticker added. “Not to criticize voters but to ensure the public understands the challenges we face.”
He continued by saying that his office will continue to work to earn the trust of and strengthen the partnership of the people in Tangipahoa Parish.
In Livingston Parish, District 5 Fire officials are also looking ahead, with Koczrowski stressing that the failed millage will not reduce the level of service.
“You can sleep tight tonight and in the future … we are not cutting our services,” he said. The main concern, he noted, is that the district will be unable to add new trucks, equipment or staffing.
“We will continue to look for alternative sources of funding through grants, donations, federal money, state money. As it becomes available, we will continue to improve as we go. But there will be no reduction in services, manpower or our responses. We’re going to respond to every call we get, whether it be a fire, medical call or car wreck.”
As for putting the millage back on a future ballot, Koczrowski said he has no immediate plans. “The people have spoken. We will try and find other things, and we will have to wait for a new growth to stimulate more money to our fire department.”
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