St. Martin Parish residents may get a little overwhelmed when they enter the voting booth on Nov. 5 and find seven tax proposals on the ballot, but St. Martin Parish President Pete Delcambre said each of the propositions are renewals that tie directly to services provided by parish government.

St. Martin Parish Government will have seven propositions on the ballot on Nov. 5 and an extra proposition on the Dec. 7 ballot that all have to do with renewals for the various millages levied by the government to conduct its daily basis.

With the recent tax assessment that increased property values, Delcambre said he chose to lower the rate of each millage so that parish residents will be paying the same amount they have in previous years.

“I went to my CFO and said I do not want to raise taxes on people right,” he said at Monday’s St. Martinville City Council meeting.

For instance, a tax renewal for roads and bridges was previously set at 3.63 mills, but has been adjusted as 3.41 mills for the next fiscal year. However, Delcambre said he could not get the renewal on the ballot before this year’s tax reassessment, so the wording of the proposition has the old rate.

Delcambre said St. Martin Parish Government maintains 400 miles of road and 45 bridges that all have to be funded if breakdowns or repairs need to be maid.

“Last year we had three bridges compromised and it cost us millions of dollars,” he said. “You can see where your money is going.”

A drainage tax, formerly 5.14 mills but now readjusted at 4.83 mills, maintains 600 miles of canals in St. Martin Parish, not including the drainage ditches the parish government also maintains.

The parish recreation tax, formerly 1.02 mills and now .96 mills and draws in an estimated $468,000 annually, will be on the ballot to continue to maintain the 12 parish parks in St. Martin.

Similarly, a 2.46 mills (formerly 2.62 mills) public health tax that is estimated to draw in $1.2 million goes toward immunizations for students, federal and state programs and animal services in St. Martin.

A courthouse tax, formerly 2.08 mills but now adjusted at 1.96 mills, will collect $955,400 annually and maintain the courthouse building, its annexes and governmental departments like the Clerk of Court and Assessor offices.

The fire protection tax, formerly 5.68 mills but now adjusted at 5.34 mills, collects $2.6 million annually and pays for the costs of improving and maintaining fire operations in the parish.

Delcambre said fire departments in St. Martin previously worked as “13 kingdoms” that collected their own taxes, but have since consolidated them with a single fire chief. The tax renewal will continue to pay for fire equipment and services, which Delcambre said were getting increasingly expensive.

Finally, an industrial park tax renewal that maintains St. Martin Parish Industrial Park will be up for renewal at 1.42 mills, previously 1.51 mills, and estimated to collect $693,000 annually.

Delcambre said the tax was originally created to aid a water system for Martin Mills. After the company left St. Martin Parish, the tax maintains the water system for surrounding operations. Delcambre said the parish government wants to move in the direction of a consolidated water system eventually, which could abolish the tax in future years.

An extra tax proposition will be on the Dec. 7 ballot for the rededication of the parish’s library tax. Delcambre said the tax will be divided between the library and St. Martin Parish Jail, which he hopes to use for matching funding when parish government applies for capital outlay to garner a new jail.

The current jail, Delcambre said, is 41 years old and well past the expiration date for a jail system. The rededication of library funds, which he said has more money than needed, will have the library system retain 30% of the proceeds of the tax while the jail receives 70%. The adjusted tax is 3.67 mills, formerly 3.90 mills, and is estimated to collect $1.7 million annually.