Bossier Parish property owners will see about $1.6 million in tax savings after the School Board approved two millage rate reductions.
Last month, Bossier Parish School Board trustees approved two millage rate reductions collected from property owners.
The parishwide sinking fund millage is being reduced from 11 mills to 10 mills, while the parishwide salaries and benefits millage is being lowered from 26.57 mills to 26.50 mills.
One mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. The two reductions will save taxpayers around $1.6 million.
“The board is trying to make sure we only collect the tax we need,” said Nicia Bamburg, chief financial officer for Bossier Parish schools. “Being fiscally responsible is important to the board.”
The sinking fund millage collects money for repayment of the $210 million general obligation bond program approved by voters in 2012. The money is used to fund school construction, renovations and other improvements.
The district collects a total of five millages.
Each note or bond includes a set collection schedule to ensure repayment is met each year. “If we are getting more money from interest, we have to collect less and less from taxes,” Bamburg said.
Board trustees have made recent decisions to ensure that investable cash collected for repayment of debt is earning maximum interest, which helps “offset how much I have to collect from the public,” she said.
Voters renewed the “salaries and benefits millage” in 2022, and that started its renewal with a slight reduction on the millage rate, Bamburg said.
The board also approved construction of the $20 million Center for Excellence, a multi-purpose facility with nearly 65,000 square feet of space for every student and school in the district, according to Sonja Bailes, communications and media officer for the district.
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The center, with an estimated seating capacity of 2,772, will be built at the John McConathy Academic Complex on Shed Road; construction is expected to start during the 2026-27 school year. It will be paid for using committed construction funds at no additional cost to taxpayers, Bailes said.
“The multitude of opportunities the center will offer are limitless, not only for our students and school families, but also Bossier City and Parish,” said Jason Rowland, district superintendent. “What better way to utilize some of the accrued money in our committed construction fund – without having to go back to our taxpayers – than to think outside the box and build a state-of-the-art student activity center that benefits every child and our community as a whole?”
An existing gymnasium, theater and adjoining spaces will be completely renovated, while two buildings will be removed to make way for a 45,000-square-foot activities center that includes banquet space.
The committed construction fund collects excess money from the general fund each year to cover future construction projects, thereby avoiding new taxpayer requests for additional money.
“As future projects arrive, there’s money there,” Bamburg said.
The special fund is also covering $12 million for a new classroom wing at Benton High School.
“Once new life is breathed into what had become a deteriorating property, the center will play host to numerous school and districtwide programs and events that cannot currently take place on Bossier Schools campuses,” Rowland said.
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