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Messages - Thomas Thompson

#1
 
VOTE NO on March 26, 2022

On March 26th you will be asked to continue a 35 mil Fire District One tax for ten years.  This tax is in addition to the yearly $39 Fire District parcel tax that we also pay.  The fire tax is our second highest property tax.  The fire tax equates to approximately $700 per year for a home assessed at $260K.

Before you vote on March 26, please look at your property tax assessment, and ask yourself why are you paying the fire district three times more than you paying the sheriff's department?  Both agencies provide community protection at high personal risk to the dedicated men and women who serve and protect.  The difference is in the agencies' structure and management.

We have one sheriff for all of St. Tammany Parish, but 13 fire districts, each with its own Chief and administrative staff and overhead.  We need a fire department that is fiscally responsible and recognizes the need to balance good protection with affordability.

It's time to slowdown the fire district's extravagant spending and demand a tax reduction before renewing the fire tax.  Vote "NO" on March 26!

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The fire district's rating is a bogus argument to justify their high budget cost.

The fire district has stated many times, their fire rating is saving us money on our homeowner's insurance.  So I called my homeowner's insurance company and asked them how much value they place on fire department ratings and how much money does it save me?

My insurance company said a fire rating is just one of dozens of parameters used in determining cost, and the fire department ratings have little impact on the cost of home insurance.  Fire damage is low risk (unless you live in the California Mountains).  Wind, hail and flood damage claims are a much higher risk in Louisiana, and insurance companies are more concerned about, the type of construction and age of structure when pricing their insurance risk verses cost.

Even if the fire department rating was lowered, my homeowner's insurance increase would not be a tenth of the $700/year* I'm paying the fire department.

Do the math.  Call your insurance company and ask them how much the fire department's rating is saving you; then look at your tax bill and see how much it is costing you.

Vote "NO" and force the fire district to come back with a reasonable, affordable and justifiable tax.

*Tax + the parcel fee