Why 2 Board Members and Concerned Citizens Held a Press Conference

Along with concerned citizens, fellow Caddo Parish School Board member, Curtis Hooks and I held a press conference today to discuss how the school board advertised on its web page and other required places that the School Board was going to have a public hearing to consider the issue of rolling the property tax millage forward, before we voted on the issue.

http://www.caddo.k12.la.us/cpsb-tax-roll-forward.cfm
Notice is hereby given pursuant to Article 7, Section 23(C) of the Constitution and R.S. 47:1705(B) that a public hearing of the Caddo Parish School Board in Caddo Parish will be held at its regular meeting place in the Board Room of the Caddo Parish School Board Central Office, located at 1961 Midway Street, Shreveport, LA, on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. to consider levying additional or increased millage rates without further voter approval or adopting the increased millage rates after reassessment and rolling forward of rates not to exceed the prior year’s maximum.  The estimated amount of tax revenues to be collected in the next tax year from the increased millage is $119,100,000, and the amount of increase in taxes attributable to the millage increase is $6,600,000.

Many citizens, along with Mr. Hooks and I, are concerned that we would advertise for a month that the board was going to hold a public hearing before voting on the tax issue, only to then, find out only 5 days before the announced hearing,  that the President of the Board, Lillian Priest, decided that the board would not have the public hearing. Doesn't this smack of false advertising?  Citizens had been researching, emailing and writing letters concerning this issue ever since the hearing was posted. President Priest said that the board had already made the decision not to roll the millage forward, therefore, the public hearing was no longer necessary.  What that statement meant to many citizens and Mr. Hooks and me was that the board did not need or want input on this issue from the taxpayers; at least not publicly and on the record where everyone would have a chance to express their opinions and hear from others.

This and other similar actions have shaped  the public's opinion of the CPSB as being dishonest with its processes and actions.  While some citizens are glad to save the tax dollars, they are leery, and well should be, of any government body that would deny the right of citizens to address this matter and future matters of such importance.  By advertising that a public hearing would be held on July 12 and then rushing to vote on the property tax issue on June 21, the public's distrust of the board seems to be validated.  The only way to regain trust is for the Board to follow through with what it says it is going to do.  The public will never trust a Board that can hide behind the powers its President or policies that can be used to deny or renege on a commitment that has been posted for a month.