The St. Martin Parish Council elected to reduce the millages of its13 funds -- "roll back" in tax talk -- rather than keep those rates where they are and collect nearly a million dollars more in tax revenue annually.

The council met in a regular session in St. Martinville Tuesday, Aug. 5.

The action taken means the parish governing body will collect the same amount of taxes in dollars as they did last year.

Parish President Guy Cormier said most funds have healthy balances.

He said the fund for the new courthouse annex and refurbishing might have to be revisited in a year.

Likewise, District 2 Councilwoman Lisa Nelson said she is willing to go along with a rollback with the understanding that if roads and other infrastructure in her district -- which includes the lucrative Highway 90 industrial park -- start taking a beating, she reserves the right to come back and ask for a roll-forward, an increase to currently authorized millages, at some point in the future.

Cormier noted that property values on which taxes are assessed rose over 40 percent since the last revaluation.

That and growth, particularly in the industrial and commercial areas of U.S. 90 and I-10, put Parish Government in a position where it can turn down what would essentially be a tax increase.

There was a pretty large crowd on hand to argue against increasing taxes, and the fact that the council was satisfied with the current revenue stream did not keep some of them from making their points. Cal Guirard of St. Martinville said the prerogative to reassess property should be taken from the parish assessor, or at the very least, the taxing bodies should leave values as they are until new taxes are passed by a vote of the public.

Former St. Martinville City Councilman Pat Martin and retired rancher Alexander Pratt said they, too, had problems with the idea of rolling forward to capture additional revenue -- and in effect, raise taxes.

Assessor Lawrence Patin told the group that he also disagrees with how the tax burden is shifting to residents, but that he has to follow the law. One solution would be to raise the homestead exemption, he said, but that attempts to do so always die in committee.

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