St. Tammany farmer., 1906-11-03
The Louisiana Tax
Levy Limit.

Levy Limit
The fact, called TO public atten.
tion by Governor Blanchard, that
several of the Louisiana police
juries and town councils have ex.
ceeded the limit of eight mills
placed on local taxation by the
late Legislature, will surprise no
one; indeed, when the General As
sembly legislated on this subject
there were many objections raised,
if not notifications of intentions to
disobey the law, on the ground
that the Legislature had exceeded
Its powers in seeking 10 regulate or
fix local taxation.
The reduction was a part of the
fiscal policy advocated by Gov.
ernor Blanchard, who took the
position that if the State could
afford to reduce taxation from six
to five mills, Oh account of the IN.
creased assessments, the parishes
and towns could do the same. He
even invited the City of New Or
leans to reduce it's taxes, holding
that an addition of thirty.odd mill
lions 10 the assessment rolls would
admit of 1t; but the city leaders
would not hear of it for a moment,
insisting that New Orleans needs
every dollar of revenue 1t can
rake and scrape. 1t Is natural,
therefore, that Governor Blanch-
ard should protest against the vic.
lation of legislative act passed at
his suggestion, and which would
scarcely have passed without his
energetic backing.
"No police jury or town coun-
Gill;" be says, ''has the right to
change the law reducing parish or
town Tor municipaD tax two mills.
Yet certain police juries have done
80, and are levying ten mills ordi.
nary parish taxes for the present
year. The levy should have been
eight mills. No tax collector has
the right to collect any more, even
though the police jur,es have lev.
led ten mills. The taxpayers should
insist upon their rights" After
explaining the exceptions made to
the law, which threatened at one
time to defeat it, and caused It to
hang fire, the Governor concludes:
'Let each taxpayer, when he
comes to pay his ordinary parish
or municipal taxes, see to 1t that
he IS not being called upon to pay
beyond eight mills, and if be is
being called upon to pay beyond
that rate let him resist, unless 1t is
made plain to him that his parish
or his town is clearly within the
exception that authorizes the police
jury or the town council, as the
case may be, to continue the old
rate of ten mills. -
The Governors advice in this
matter Is only too likely to be
followed. Property owners are
not usually inclined to pay more
than they legally owe; and when
the Governor directly invites them
to resist certain taxes, it may be
as certain that they will
do so. This means that the ques.
tion of the reduction IN parish and
town taxation will have to be
fought out in the courts on ldentl-
cally the same lines as 1t was con.
tested IN the General Assembly.
Of the right Of the Legislature
10 reduce the tax rate OF the State
here can be and is on question.
Relative to the parish taxes, the
Constitution says:
Article 224.-The taxing power may
" exercised by the General Assembly
or State purposes, and by parishes and
municipal corporations and public
'oards, under authority granted to
hem by the General Assembly for par
sh, municipal and local purposes,
trictly public in their nature.
Article 232.-The State tax on prop
rty for Ill purposes whatsoever -.
hall not exceed, in any one year, six
Hills on the dollar Of it's asseeesed yalu. /
ton, and, except as otherwise pro-
ided In this Constitution, NO parish,
,unicipal or public board tax, for ill
urposes whatsoever, shall exceed in