Latest Fight- Stop the “CATS” Tax
$184 MILLION more for a broken system?
SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT CATS PROPOSAL
WHAT: The Capital Area Transportation Authority, a state agency, has proposed a 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax on all homes and businesses in the city limits of Baton Rouge, Baker, and Zachary.
The tax would raise an estimated $18.4 million a year from property owners, for a total of $18,400,000 over the 10 years. CATS already has about $12 million in revenue.
So this would increase their revenue to more than $30 million a year.
The 10.6-mill property tax means that ALL homeowners would pay about 1% of the value of their homes in taxes each year, just to support the Baton Rouge bus system. Businesses would pay about 1.5% of the value of their businesses each year.
The homestead exemption does not apply to this proposed property tax. For a home valued at $300,000, the tax would be over $300 a year, or more than $25 a month.
WHEN: The tax will be voted on at a special election scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012.
WHO: All voters inside the city limits of Baton Rouge, Baker, and Zachary will get to vote, including those who do not own property. Voters outside the city limits will not be allowed to vote. So, voters in Central and the unincorporated areas of the parish will not vote. The industrial areas along the river, such as Exxon, would not have to pay the tax.
TAXBUSTERS of Baton Rouge is opposing the tax and will provide information to voters on Facebook and on its website, www.taxbusters.us