By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch
The Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS — St. Bernard Parish voters will be asked Dec. 8 to decide a 20-mill tax increase that would generate an estimated $6 million annually, a windfall supporters say will put the department on sound financial ground and protect and possibly improve residents’ fire protection rating. If the tax fails, parish officials say, the department will face massive layoffs and cuts.
The fire tax, which would be for 10 years, is the most contentious local issue on the December ballot, which also features referendums for a parish employee residency requirement and a rededication of a sales tax for garbage collection expenses.
If the fire tax fails, Parish President Dave Peralta says his administration will “definitely, absolutely” have to eliminate 79 parish firefighters in order to keep the parish budget balanced while maintaining the bare essentials of other necessary parish services. That would leave the department with only 27 firefighters, and Fire Chief Tommy Stone says it would mean closing at least half of the parish’s 10 fire stations.
Full story: St. Bernard Parish fire millage up for vote, 79 firefighters in crosshairs