By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. John the Baptist Parish voters will head to the polls May 2 to decide whether to renew a property tax set to expire at the end of the year.

Passage of the 1 mill tax in May, which generates approximately $450,000 annually, would extend the tax for 10 years.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Council set the election date at its Feb. 24 meeting for the levy, which Chief Financial Officer Vince Lucia said is used for constructing, operating and maintaining the parish courthouse, jail and office building.

“This tax renewal is critical to the Parish’s ability to perform ongoing maintenance and improvements to the courthouse and jail,” Parish President Natalie Robottom said.

Lucia said the tax has been in place since at least 1996, adding the parish’s Assessor’s Office rolled back the tax to 1.0 from 1.01 mill in 2011.

Lucia said passage of the tax in May would mean no changes in parish homeowner’s taxes, and if the tax wasn’t renewed “the parish would lose approximately $447,000 for maintenance of buildings beginning in 2016.”