For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 5, 2012
20-YEAR DISPUTE OVER TAXATION, FIRE SERVICE ENDS WITH COUNCIL VOTE
An ongoing legal dispute between the City of Covington and St. Tammany Fire Protection District
No. 12 has been ended with a unanimous vote of the City Council that allows the city to continue
growing while preserving the service areas of two fire departments and ensuring citizen tax dollars are
spent wisely.
On Tuesday night, the Covington City Council unanimously accepted a Cooperative Endeavor
Agreement crafted by Mayor Mike Cooper and Fire District 12 leadership that resolves a decades-old
dispute about tax collection and fire service.
“We have two responsibilities as public servants: public safety and stewardship of tax dollars,”
said FD12 Chief Darrell Guilott. “This action by the Council, after extensive negotiations, allows us to
more effectively accomplish both.”
FD12 was formed 28 years ago to serve a 65-square-mile area north, east and south of
Covington City Limits. As the city grew through annexation, some residents and businesses found
themselves taxed twice, as the voter-approved millages to fund FD12 were duplicated by City millages
that went into effect with annexation. As a result, citizens sued the City and FD12, FD12 sued the City,
and the Assessor’s Office was caught in the middle.
Prior to Cooper’s inauguration on July 1, 2011, he began talks with FD12 to resolve the dispute,
which was costing both entities legal fees and doing a disservice to the citizens served by both agencies.
After several months of discussion, the two reached an agreement last month to firmly establish
boundaries for fire service and, effectively, millage collection. The agreement approved on Tuesday
establishes firm boundaries for the Covington Fire Department and FD12’s respective service areas.
“This agreement does not affect the quality of service citizens receive,” Guilott said. “Mutual
aid agreements long in place ensure citizens both inside and outside Covington will receive high-quality
fire protection service. Rather, this agreement ensures that residents will not be double-taxed for that
service, and allows both agencies to operate at a high level with stable funding sources.”
Both the City and FD12 will maintain approximately the same level of millage collection, and the
City is in no way prevented from annexing property, whether residential or commercial. But as
Covington grows, FD12 revenue will not be diminished.
“This is truly an extraordinary ending to a long contention,” Guilott said. “We are so thankful to
Mayor Cooper for his work to resolve this issue, and to the City Council, whose members recognized the
importance of resolving the dispute.”
In the last year alone, six lawsuits were filed over the City’s growth and its impact on FD12
millage revenue. All of those suits are withdrawn after the execution of this agreement.
For more information, find Fire District 12 on Facebook.
