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Police jury approves road lighting elections for October ballot
Voters in Ouachita Parish's road lighting districts will be asked in October to approve a change in the method they utilize to pay for road lighting service.
The Ouachita Parish Police Jury on Monday agreed to include the measure on the Oct. 17 ballot.
Parish residents also will have the opportunity to vote on establishing new road lighting districts in their neighborhoods.
The police jury has received several inquiries from residents in District A and District E about establishing new road lighting districts.
Road lighting districts must be established by voter approval since residents would be charged an annual service fee for 10 years to pay for utility charges for road lighting and the improvements, maintenance and operation of road lighting facilities and equipment.
Parish attorney Jay Mitchell said in order for any proposition to be placed on the Oct. 17 ballot, it would need to be submitted to the state by June 16.
Of the current existing road lighting districts, there are five that have service charge authorizations expiring this year.
"So those would need to be put on the ballot," he said.
Regarding the change in billing, Mitchell said it would not affect the amount currently charged to residents in road lighting districts. The reason behind the change, Mitchell said, was because of problems with collections in some districts in the parish. The proposed changes in billing would take care of those issues.
Currently, fees are collected by the police jury, which sends bills to residents living in the road lighting districts. Any unpaid accounts must be resolved through the district court system.
If voters approve the changes, road lighting fees will be placed on the property owner's tax bill, which is collected by the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office.
If a property owner does not pay his or her property taxes, the property could be seized by the sheriff and sold at auction.
"Last year, the jury requested the Legislature adopt legislation allowing the road lighting districts in Ouachita Parish to have their service charges assessed to the property owners and placed on the tax bill," Mitchell explained. "It would be a tremendous improvement in the system to have these road lighting charges placed on the property bill. It's going to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in postage, and it will save hundreds of hours of man hours. It's also going to improve collection of the road lighting service fees. It also should be a heck of a convenience for the home owners because it will be one bill as opposed to receiving multiple bills."
The police jury serves as the governing body for every road lighting district in the parish.
The police jury plans to work with Entergy to educate voters about the road lighting district changes before the election. Entergy and the police jury also should provide interested neighborhoods opportunities to learn more about the benefits of establishing their own road lighting districts, Mitchell said.
Police juror Pat Moore said residents who reside in road lighting districts should be offered opportunities to learn how the changes may affect them.
"The educational piece will be very important because some people have not been paying, and they will be requested to pay," Moore said. "They were sent bills and they didn't really understand and resisted a bit. They need to understand if they don't keep the road lighting district, the lights will go off, and crime goes up. They just need to understand what will happen if they do not support this." |
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