Relevy Of A Tax In Tangipahoa Parish

HAMMOND, La. (AP) — The Tangipahoa Parish school system has received judicial approval to relevy a 9 mill tax for accelerated programs in Hammond-area elementary schools.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/LkLCgo) U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle, who oversees the school district's 57-year-old desegregation case, previously had ordered that the three-year tax voters approved in March 2010 be collected for only one year.

After that, the Hammond-area magnet programs were to be funded, along with other district needs, through a set of tax propositions on the April 30, 2011 ballot.

The tax package failed with 87 percent of voters rejecting the propositions.

Facing a projected $7.5 million deficit and financial exigency for the 2012-13 school year, the district asked Lemelle for permission to levy and collect the tax for 2012 so the magnet programs could continue.