New Orleans voters resoundingly defeated a proposed property tax increase that would have increased revenues for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.
With 62 percent of precincts reporting, 91 percent of voters said “no” to the 5.5-mill in-lieu-of tax.
That tax would have more than doubled property taxes for New Orleans property owners and raised nearly $24 million for the operations of the sheriff’s office and the Orleans Parish Justice Center. Sheriff Susan Hutson claimed the extra revenue is needed to help the sheriff’s office make improvements to the jail and to bring the sheriff’s office closer to meeting all of the goals of a federal consent decree. Opponents argued that the language in the proposition was too vague and would have allowed the sheriff to use the tax revenues for matters other than the ones she discussed on the campaign trail.
Despite the defeat, Sheriff Hutson said she’d continue to fight for her office and to obtain the funds she says it needs to accomplish her goals.
“Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but it in no way diminishes the financial needs of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which has historically been underfunded through the city’s budgeting process,” Sheriff Hutson said in a statement. “If we want to achieve a jail that lives up to the needs and expectations of this community, meets best practices and helps us exit a 10-year consent judgement, we must do more!
“We must provide competitive pay for our deputies, fix a broken jail that is dangerous for residents and staff and improve our IT infrastructure to better be able show the public what is happening inside the jail. We came to our community looking for support to fix these problems knowing it will take the community that we care for daily to also care for OPSO.”
Hutson also alluded to another tax campaign in the future.
“While we did not succeed in making our case to voters, we want the community to know the men and women of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office are dedicated to this community,” Sheriff Hutson said. “I’m proud of their work every day, and we all will continue to work together to help our community whenever and however we’re called upon. To the OPSO family, please know that I will continue fighting for you every chance I get.
