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FERRIDAY, La. — Ferriday voters voted in favor of two tax millage resolutions and authorized the town to issue general obligation bonds payable from said taxes. The taxes and bond issue aim to fund public safety and pay back debts.

Voter turnout in Saturday’s general election for the entire parish was low. Of the 12,467 registered voters in Concordia Parish, around 6 percent or 764 voted in the election. Ferriday’s voter turnout was around 8.9 percent, with only 181 of the town’s 2,035 registered voters casting ballots.

There were three town-specific propositions on the ballot for Ferriday voters that the rest of the parish did not have, which included two tax propositions and authorization for the town to issue general obligation bonds in the maximum amount of $775,000 to mature no more than 15 years at a rate no more than 8 percent per year “for the purpose of refunding all or a portion of the Town’s currently outstanding general obligation bonds,” according to the proposition text.

The bond is payable from ad valorem taxes, which are collected from people who own residential or commercial property within town limits.

The bond proposition passes with 152 yes votes and 29 no votes.

The first tax, a special tax of 12 mills on all the property subject to taxation in the town, is expected to produce an estimated $140,000 in revenue each year for a period of 15 years beginning in 2025 and ending in 2039.

The tax is to be used for general municipal purposes, including the payment of debt service from the general obligation bond. This proposition passed with 150 yes votes and 30 no votes

Another special tax of 10 mills is estimated to produce an estimated $120,300 in revenue each year for 10 years beginning in 2025 and ending in 2034.

This tax is solely to provide public safety, including paying “salaries and other personnel costs related to fire protection and police protection and acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining and operating fire protection and police facilities and equipment,” the proposition states. This proposition passed with 148 yes votes and 26 no votes.

Parish-wide, a proposition to authorize the collection of a sales and use tax of 0.25 percent, procuring an estimated $888,000 each ear for 10 years beginning in 2025 for “extending, improving, maintaining and/or operating” the parish’s Hospital Service District, its facilities and services passed with 502 yes votes and 262 no votes.

The parish supported another proposition to amend Article VII, Section 25 of the Louisiana constitution to “eliminate mandatory tax sales for nonpayment of property taxes and require the legislature to provide for such procedures by law; to limit the amount of penalty and interest on delinquent property taxes; and to provide for the postponement of property tax payments under certain circumstances” with 394 yes votes and 351 no votes.

Statewide, the same proposition passed with 180,856 yes votes, or 55 percent of the total votes, and 150,423 no votes, 45 percent.

The parish, along with the state,  also supported an amendment to amend Article V, Section 25(C); add Article V, Section 25(A)(4), and allow the Supreme Court to sanction a judge upon an investigation by the judiciary commission, and provide that the recommended sanction shall be instituted by the judiciary commission or by a majority of the supreme court, and to provide for the appointment of five members of the judiciary commission with 442 yes votes and 308 no votes.

The parish, along with the state, supported legislation to require that the legislature wait for at least 48 hours before concurring in a conference committee report or amendments to a bill appropriating money with 478 yes votes and 265 no votes.

The parish, along with the state, supported a proposition that allows the legislature to extend a regular session in increments of two days up to six days with 438 yes votes and 309 no votes.