East St. Mary voters overwhelmingly passed a new 9-mill property tax to raise money for repairs at Ochsner St. Mary.

Also in Saturday's election, according to complete but unofficial returns, new sales taxes to raise money for public safety passed in Baldwin and Franklin.

And voters renewed property taxes, all in the 12- to 13-mill range, in each of the St. Mary Parish School Board's three maintenance districts.

The 9-mill tax tax for Hospital Service District 2 is expected to raise $3.4million a year.

The district board said the money is needed to pay for improvements to the Morgan City hospital building owned by the district and operated under lease by Ocshner Health.

The needs identified by a company hired for the purpose include sealing the building against moisture and a new heating and air-conditioning system, needs made more clear by Hurricane Francine's impact on the hospital.

The hospital was closed to inpatient care outside the emergency room from Sept. 12, the day after the hurricane, until early October while staffers dried moisture from the hospital walls.

Ochsner's lease obligates the company to pay $200,000 a year for maintenance, which the board said Ochsner has exceeded. But the district board argued that the hospital building is publicly owned and a public responsibility.

The 9-mill levy will be the only property tax imposed by the hospital district. Bayou Bend in Franklin is supported by a 13-mill tax.

The proposition also dedicates a portion of the funds raised by the tax to scholarships for local people seeking training in health-care related fields.

A lack of medical staff members was a factor cited by Ochsner when, in 2023, it closed the Morgan City hospital to nonemergency labor and delivery care in favor of a Bayou Region consolidation at Ochsner St. Anne in Raceland.