Could Baker shift school millage to a city tax and keep the extra revenue?

Plain-English summary

Baker asked in 2005 whether it could increase its own property-tax millage while lowering the city school board's millage by the same amount, using the constitutional provision for additional school support. The plan aimed to capture revenue that the school board's taxes would lose to the homestead exemption and use it for city purposes. The Attorney General said the cited tax authority could be used only for elementary and secondary schools.

The opinion said that if Baker collected a tax under La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C), the entire proceeds, including the extra amount realized through the proposed arrangement, would have to support public schools. The constitutional language did not authorize levying that tax for the municipality's benefit.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy.

Common questions

Could Baker use the school-support tax for its general budget?

The AG said no. The constitutional authorization was for additional support of public elementary and secondary schools, not general municipal purposes.

Did the school board's offsetting millage cut change the answer?

No. The opinion said all proceeds collected by Baker under the proposed arrangement still had to be used strictly for public-school support.

What about revenue avoided by the homestead exemption?

The AG addressed that amount directly: any additional revenue the city realized because its tax was not subject to the exemption still had to go toward the schools.

Background and statutory framework

The third paragraph of La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) authorized an ad valorem tax for additional school support when approved by voters. The opinion read that purpose restriction as controlling the use of every dollar collected under it.

Citations

• La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) (school-support tax provision).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0226

Original opinion text

July 25, 2005
Opinion Number 05-0226

90 – POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
150 – TAXATION – Disposition of Special Taxes La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C)
Honorable Harold M. Rideau
Mayor, City of Baker
La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) only authorizes use of the
proceeds of the taxes authorized thereby for the “support of
P. O. Box 707
elementary and secondary schools”. This constitutional provision
Baker, Louisiana 70704
does not authorize the levy of these taxes for the benefit of a
municipality such as the City of Baker or any other entity.
Dear Mayor Rideau:

Reference is made to your recent request for an Attorney General’s opinion as to whether the City of Baker could hold an election and present to its voters a proposition authorizing the increase of the City’s ad valorem tax rate by 33.2 mils and the reduction of the Baker City School Board’s ad valorem tax rate by an amount equal to 33.2 mils, all under the authority of the third paragraph of La Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C).

According to your correspondence, such an arrangement would assist the City of Baker in its efforts to shift the primary source of its revenue from a sales tax based revenue stream to a property tax based stream of revenue. If the proposed proposition passed, you advise that the City of Baker would provide to the Baker City School Board an amount equal to the amount of revenue lost to the School Board by virtue of its millage reduction, thereby allowing the City of Baker to take advantage of the fact that ad valorem taxes it levies are not subject to the homestead exemption, as are ad valorem taxes levied by the school board.

As we understand your letter, you believe this arrangement would allow the City to realize for its own purposes (i.e. municipal purposes as opposed to school purposes) that portion of taxes which would be sheltered from collection by the school board by the homestead exemption.

Pertinently, the third paragraph of La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) provides:

“Local Funds. Local funds for the support of elementary and secondary schools shall be derived from the following sources:

Third: For giving additional support to public elementary and secondary schools, any parish school district, or subschool district, or any municipality or city school board which supports a city system of public schools may levy an ad valorem tax for a specific purpose, when authorized by a majority of the electors…”

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Opinion Number 05-0226
Honorable Harold M. Rideau
Mayor, City of Baker
Page -2-

In our opinion, although La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) authorizes the City of Baker to “levy an ad valorem tax for a specific purpose, when authorized by a majority of the electors”, such taxes can only be levied “for giving additional support to elementary and secondary schools”. The City of Baker could not realize or use any of the tax proceeds levied pursuant to such an arrangement for any purpose other than the purpose of “giving additional support to public elementary and secondary schools”, as is required by the provisions of La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C).

La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) does not authorize the levy of these taxes for the benefit of a municipality such as the City of Baker or any other entity. Thus, the full amount of all proceeds collected by the City of Baker, including the portion which would otherwise be sheltered by the homestead exemption if collected by the School Board, would have to be used by the City of Baker strictly for the support of the public schools. See Hemler v. Richland Parish School Board, 142 La. 133, 76 So. 585 (1917), wherein the Court stated:

“It is a familiar principle that laws authorizing taxation, or in other words, authorizing a debt to be created against the taxpayer, or his property to be taken, without his consent, are in derogation of common right; and therefore to be strictly construed. And this is especially true of laws authorizing special taxes. If, therefore, among the enumerated purposes for which a certain special tax is authorized to be levied, a certain particular purpose is not mentioned, the conclusion is inevitable that for this unnamed purpose the tax may not be levied.” (Emphasis added).

See also the opinions of this office which adhere to the principles enunciated in the Hemler decision, including Attorney General’s Opinion No. 04-0013, addressed to you on March 10, 2005, with respect to the ability of the School Board to transfer its taxing authority under La. Const Art. VII, Sec. 13(C) to the City of Baker. See also Attorney General’s Opinions Nos. 04-0267; 03-0214; 02-0381; 01-16; 00-20; 99-347; 98-361; 97- 434; 96-494; 95-222.

We trust the foregoing is helpful to you and to the City of Baker. If this office can be of assistance in other areas of the law, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
Attorney General

BY: _________
JEANNE-MARIE ZERINGUE BARHAM
Assistant Attorney General

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Opinion Number 05-0226
Honorable Harold M. Rideau
Mayor, City of Baker
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CCF, jr./JMZB/dam

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Opinion Number 05-0226
Syllabus

90 – POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
150 – TAXATION – Disposition of Special Taxes
La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C)

La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 13(C) only authorizes use of the proceeds of the taxes authorized thereby for the “support of elementary and secondary schools”. This constitutional provision does not authorize the levy of these taxes for the benefit of a municipality such as the City of Baker or any other entity.

Honorable Harold M. Rideau
Mayor, City of Baker
P. O. Box 707
Baker, Louisiana 70704

Date Received:

Date Released: July 25, 2005

Jeanne-Marie Zeringue Barham
Assistant Attorney General