Abbeville council discusses property tax increase as possible avenue to increase police salaries

An increase in property taxes could be the springboard to higher salaries for officers at the Abbeville Police Department.
The Abbeville City Council discussed the issue Tuesday during a finance committee meeting. To be clear, the council made no official decision on the matter, which would have to go before a public vote.
“I would like to put it out to the public and at least get a conversation started on the possibility of pursuing an increase in our millage,” Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance said during the meeting.
Plaisance referenced a recent survey sent to members of the Abbeville Police Department as a basis for an increase in the millage to generate more revenue.
“One of the issues was the fact that the salaries were low,” he said.
The city currently collects a rate of 6.32 mills annually from property owners in Abbeville. Plaisance said an increase in that number is the only viable option as taxes go.
“There’s no way we can go with sales tax in the city,” he said. “We are at a maximum sales tax right now. The only other thing I see that we can explore is a property tax. New Orleans had an amendment on (Tuesday’s ballot) to increase their millage for fire and police protection from five to 10 mills.”
Statewide voters approved Amendment 6 Tuesday, which will allow the cap on the millage to be increased. Voters in New Orleans still have to pass the measure. That election will take place next year.
Similarly, voters in Abbeville will have the final say on any increase here. The city council will have to bring the issue to Secretary of State Tom Schedler’s office by January to be able to get in on the ballot for an election next spring.
Plaisance said he feels something needs to be done to increase starting salaries with the Abbeville Police Department.
“I have looked at cities in the state that are very similar to us in population,” Plaisance said. “Our starting salary is $1,680 a month for the police department. Mandeville, with 12,500 population, has a monthly salary of 2,673. Bogalusa, with a 12,360 population, has a starting salary of 2,360. Gueydan’s starting salary is 1,600 a month and Kaplan is 1,560.
“Increasing property taxes is one possibly solution, financially, that we could look at.”
Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., District B, agreed that steps need to be taken to improve police salaries. Touchet added that citizens need to be thoroughly informed of all steps taken.
“We need to be inclusive of all property owners and get their opinions and thoughts,” Touchet said. “I am not saying we wait a month. Let’s get that done now.
“We need this and let’s bring people to the table with specifics and tell them why we need it.”
Touchet suggested creating a committee to come up with what the exact millage increase would be and where the money would go.
“Then we organize a public meeting to talk about whether or not this can be a success,” Touchet said.
Councilman Wayne Landry, District D, said he believes an increase would serve the city well.
“I think it is a win-win situation,” Landry said. “If we don’t move forward with this, we are digging ourselves a hole. We have to secure the departments that protect the city.”
Plaisance said that is the important thing to remember in this discussion.
“We want protection by the police and fire departments,” Plaisance said. “We can’t expect employees to live on salaries that we can unfortunately only pay at this time.
“I hope that we can pursue this thing with plenty of public impute.”
Plaisance requested that Mayor Mark Piazza look into what revenue would be generated by an increase of two mill increments. Piazza said he will bring that information to the table at a future council meeting.
Piazza said there are other areas that need to be addressed prior to moving forward.
“I think we need to research the different property taxes,” Piazza said. “There’s more than one type of property tax. Some could be homestead exempt.
“All of those things need to be researched so that we can better qualify what kind of tax we would want on the ballot if the city council chooses to do so.”