Berwick council gets warning about new bug in town

BERWICK – Any uncertainty over what property tax rates Berwick residents will pay next fall was put to rest Tuesday night by the Town Council.

Residents also were warned at the same meeting about creatures that could take a bigger bite out their homes than the tax man will.

Tuesday’s agenda was dominated by the decision on whether keep two property tax millages at present levels. But City Attorney Allen A. McElroy threw in an unadvertised topic: He told the council that his Willowcrest Subdivision home had been damaged by Formosan termites. That breed of bug is notoriously difficult to get rid of and notoriously destructive.

“This was a different type of termite, and it can do extensive damage in a short about of time,” McElroy said after the meeting.

He told the council that an annual inspection in February turned up signs of infestation. A pest control company treated the home.

Then, in April, McElroy found what he thought was water damage in a wall. What he discovered when the wall was opened was a Formosan termite nest.

The U.S. Department Agriculture’s Formosan termite website said the bug probably came to the United States in small numbers when wooden crates and pallets were shipped home from western Pacific battlefields after World War II. For a couple of decades, Formosan termites were rare here, and they’re not always easy to distinguish from already established varieties.
But the wooden packing materials often wound up in landfills, providing Formosan termites with an ideal environment in which to multiply. Infestations have now been found in border and coastal states from California to Virginia, plus Arkansas. Property damage and control measures cost an estimated $1 billion a year, including $300 million in New Orleans alone, the USDA website said.

New Orleans is attractive to Formosan termites, and the French Quarter especially so, because of the warm, wet climate and the many buildings set on foundations supported by wood, some of which date to the 18th century, the website said.

McElroy said Formosan termites can infest trees and can enter homes through chimneys and other openings even if access through the ground is blocked.

McElroy said he wasn’t looking for action from the council. He said he only wants to warn local homeowners that Formosan termites have arrived.

When the council discussion turned to property taxes, there wasn’t much discussion.

At issue were two town property taxes, one for general purposes, the other dedicated to maintenance and improvements.

Louisiana requires a reassessment of property values every four years. The law also says property tax rates imposed by local governments must be rolled back so that the reassessment doesn’t raise additional revenue.

The local governments can roll the rates forward again to their pre-reassessment levels and reap the added revenue from growth in property values. But their governing boards must vote to re-establish the old rates. That’s what the Berwick council did Tuesday.

Before the reassessment, the general tax rate was 12.12 mills. The maintenance and improvement tax was 6 mills. The reassessment would have dropped the general rate to 11.98 and the maintenance rate to 5.93.

A mill is 1/10th of a cent of tax on each dollar of assessed valuation. The assessed valuation of a home and lot is 10 percent of the market value as determined by the assessor. Other classes of property are assessed at different levels.

A public hearing set for Tuesday drew no comments. The council voted unanimously to approve two ordinances that rolled the rates forward again to 12.12 and 6 mills.

Keeping the current rates gives the town government about $7,000 that is “desperately needed” during the economic downturn brought on by slumping oil prices, Mayor Louis Ratcliff said.

Clerk and Chief Administration Officer Newell W. Slaughter said the town government’s revenues are down 21 percent from last year.

More on Formosan termites:
http://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/1998/oct/term