Residents in the unincorporated areas of Tangipahoa Parish will go to the polls Dec. 7 regarding a proposed one-cent sales tax increase that would benefit the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier this week the Louisiana State Bond Commission approved Sheriff Gerald Sticker’s request for the tax to be placed on the December ballot.
If approved, the new tax would go into effect April 1, 2025, and generate an estimated $11 million annually.
Sticker said the funds are about putting a school resource officer in every school, doubling the number of uniformed deputes, and increasing employee pay.
TPSO officials said starting pay for deputes in parishes such as St. Bernard and St. John the Baptist is close to $28 an hour, and locally the starting pay for Hammond and Amite Police top $40,000 annually. If voters approve the tax, deputies’ pay would increase from $16 an hour to $20 an hour.
