NEW ORLEANS — This time of year, Orleans Parish residents are usually getting their annual tax bill.
But this year, homeowners will be forced to wait because there are millages that still need to be voted on.
Depending on those votes, bills could increase.
According to the Orleans Parish Assessor's Office, the average property value shot up between 12 to 13 percent. In response, the New Orleans City Council sent a letter to taxing authorities to roll back millages, including New Orleans Public Schools.
Stuart Gay, chief financial officer for NOLA Public Schools, said the school board will decide on the millages at a public hearing on Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. at the Central Office on the West Bank. Immediately after, the board will vote.
“I don’t think we have overfunded schools by any stretch of the imagination," Gay said.
According to Gay, there are several millages at stake. For example, some are for pay raises, while others are for asbestos removal.
“They can make the decision to roll forward or roll back any of those separate millages," Gay said.
The Assessor's Office said if the school board rolls all the millages forward, it would result in bills increasing by $54.40 for every $100,000 of property value.
For example, if your home is valued at $300,000, your bill would increase more than $160 a year.
Gay said if all the millages roll forward, it would generate about $29.6 million for the school system.
“98 percent of the dollars that pass through are going directly out to the charter schools in the city," Gay said.
After the vote in late January, bills will begin to arrive.
Gay said NOLA Public Schools is waiting on information from the Louisiana Department of Education.
According to a spokesperson for LDOE, if the millages are rolled forward it would have no impact on the funding NOLA Public Schools receives from the state.
Rolling back the taxes could mean the state will provide a slight increase in funds if students remain at the same count, but it would lower the reward districts get for raising local revenue, the spokesperson said.
It is all based on a complicates state funding formula, Gay said.
“We need to know that, again, in order for the OPSB to make a decision because if they don’t roll forward at all we could potentially just start off several million dollars in the hole," Gay said.
LDOE is expected to supply NOLA Public Schools with that information by early January, Gay said.
Due to the delay in bills being sent out, they will now be due on Feb. 29, according to city officials.