As early voting continues, we urge our readers to support the property tax renewal that supports the parish prison known as the “Pea Farm”
We have reviewed the facility’s operation closely. We have some reservations about the internal operations of the facility, but those concerns do not rise to the level of opposing the tax renewal.
The renewal that appears on the April 30th ballot is a 9.2-mill property tax that helps finance the Ouachita Correctional Center which houses some 1,140 inmates. It houses inmates arrested by the Parish, City of Monroe, and City of West Monroe.
The tax is not a new tax, it is a renewal. The tax has been levied by the Ouachita Parish Police Jury for years but failed last fall after some 56 percent of voters rejected the OCC millage.
Early voting continues until April 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ouachita Parish Registrar of Voters’ office. The Registrar of Voters is at the Ouachita Parish Health Unit on DeSiard Street in Monroe.
Early voting also will be conducted at the West Ouachita Senior Center on North 7th Street in West Monroe until April 23rd from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
As of Tuesday, 409 people had cast an early vote for the April 30th election.
