Sen. working on double taxation problem

Legislation is in the works that should resolve an issue in Berwick where a few residents were allegedly being double-taxed for recreation, according to area officials.
In September, The Daily Review reported that the Berwick Town Council discussed the more than 30 homes along Old Spanish Trail that pay property taxes to the town of Berwick and to St. Mary Parish Recreation District 3 in Bayou Vista.
Recreation District 3 was created in July 1990 and covers all of Ward 8 of St. Mary Parish except the portion lying within the corporate boundaries of the Town of Berwick, The Daily Review reported in September.
When the district formed, its boundaries went up to the town limits of Berwick, which at the time ended at Country Club Estates, Board Chairman Stan Robison said last month.
Berwick annexed two sections of land in 1995 and 1998 from U.S. 90 north toward La. 182 and in the Old Spanish Trail area, Berwick Mayor Louis Ratcliff said in September. The Old Spanish Trail property was already included in Recreation District 3, Robison said.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilman Greg Roussel said the recreation district accepted moving the boundary line to no longer include those roughly 30 homes that are paying Berwick and Recreation District 3 taxes.
State Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, is working to pass legislation in the 2016 Regular Legislative Session to resolve the matter. Allain said he plans to run a bill in the regular session to allow the residents now incorporated into Berwick, who were originally in the Bayou Vista recreation district, to no longer pay the maintenance portion of the recreation district’s property tax. That portion of the tax is 7.3 mills.
Those residents will still have to pay the roughly 1.5 mills of debt service on the district’s bonds, Allain said. However, if the district passes any new millages in the future, those millages wouldn’t be levied on that property, Robison said.
“I was happy to carry that (legislation) to make peace among all parties,” Allain said.
After the legislation is passed, the recreation district can sign an agreement with Berwick for the town to officially provide recreation for the Old Spanish Trail residents instead of Recreation District 3, Robison said.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com