LIVINGSTON — The Livingston Parish Library Board of Control voted to recommend that the parish council be asked to raise the property tax that funds the library system. 

The board's recommended millage increase would raise the current 7.53-mill rate to 8.2 mills. 

Three members of the ten-member board voted against the final rate, including board president Jonathan Davis, who proposed a separate resolution to hand the decision directly to the Parish Council.

In 2023, voters approved an up to 10-mill library rate, but a reassessment ordered by the state in 2024 adjusted the rate to 7.53. 

With an increased millage, the library system, which consists of five branches across the parish, would have more funding, but would be at a greater burden to property owners. 

According to data presented by the board, a home valued at $250,000 would owe $131.77 under the 7.53-mill rate. Under the newly proposed rate, this would increase to $143.50. 

Board members who voted in favor of the recomendation said that they would support anything that would help library workers get better pay, bringing their wages more in line with the cost-of-living in the parish. 

Discussion about the millage recomendation followed a presentation that showed how far Livingston's pay lags behind neighboring parishes and their library systems. Closing this gap to better compete with the average pay across the parishes would cost about $352,470 over a half-decade, data presented at the meeting showed.

The full meeting can be seen here.