PORT ALLEN - West Baton Rouge residents have a drainage tax renewal up for a vote on their March 29 ballots that parish officials say is critically important.

"It's a 10-year renewal of our drainage tax. It actually provides all of the funding for our drainage department, which includes salaries, equipment, and so forth," West Baton Rouge Parish President Jason Manola said.

The drainage tax is a renewal of the millage rate of 7.2 that was last voted on back in 2014.

66% of voters supported that vote. Higher home prices and an increase in the population have meant that the tax brings in considerably more money than it did a decade ago.

According to the 2014 vote, the tax was expected to generate around $2.6 million each year. The vote in March is expected to generate around $5.9 Million each year.

WBR officials say the vote is extremely important because of how drainage is set up in the parish.

"It's about 700 miles of total drainage canal that we have throughout the parish. In other places, you may see like drainage districts and so forth. In West Baton Rouge, it's actually all through West Baton Rouge parish government," Manola said.

For a property that costs 250,000 dollars without a homestead exemption, the cost would be about $180 each year. With homestead exemption, it comes in at about $126 each year.

While the rate is 7.2, the parish says that doesn't mean they will always collect as high of a rate as that.

"And we have in the past we've rolled it back to 6.2. We look at the fund balance to see how much excess we have," Chief of Administration Phillip Bourgoyne said.

If the vote passes, it would last from 2026 to 2035 and not only fund current and future drainage projects, but everyday maintenance.

"This is a dedicated tax strictly to the drainage department, so we can't spend it on any other function, whether it's recreation or any other function we have," Manola said.

I asked the officials what would happen if the vote failed.

'This is a critical piece of our government. If it does not pass, then we would have to look at potentially going out again to try to get this passed," Manola said.

WBRZ spoke to residents around West Baton Rouge and a majority of them felt drainage is too important of an issue to vote against.

"I think the drainage property tax is really important because of the drainage system. Our property in the back of our property seems to be washing away because of improper drainage," Addis resident Amos Richardson said.

Others felt the rate is a little high, saying the cost of things 10 years ago is not the same as today.