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Baker council introduces multiple 2026 tax and fee ordinances; public questions property-tax impacts
Summary
The Baker City Council introduced several 2026 ordinances — covering sales/use tax, insurance/license tax, occupational and chain-store licenses, alcoholic beverage tax, property tax levy, and civic center rental-rate changes — and answered public questions about property-tax impacts and assessments.
At its meeting the Baker City Council introduced several ordinances for 2026, including proposals to levy or update sales/use taxes, insurance and license taxes, occupational licenses, chain-store taxes, an alcoholic beverage excise tax, and to set the property tax rate for 2026.
The attorney read key paragraphs of multiple ordinances: ordinance 2026-1 (sales and use tax introduction), 2026-2 (insurance and license tax), 2026-3 (occupational license tax), 2026-4 (chain store license tax), 2026-5 (alcoholic beverage tax, described in the reading as $1.50 per standard barrel or equivalent), and 2026-6 (property tax rate for general city purposes for 2026). Council members moved and seconded the introductions; each item was set for later hearing as part of the normal ordinance process.
A resident asked how a property-tax levy would affect individual taxpayers after recent parish-level increases; staff explained the introductions set levy authority only and that actual property bills depend on assessor valuations and other taxing authorities (school board, parish). The meeting directed citizens with questions about their bill to contact the assessor's office for the breakdown of assessed amounts.
Council also introduced ordinance 2026-7, a change to City of Baker Code Article 5 Section 44 that would change Civic Center and Municipal Building rental rates effective Feb. 1, 2026 (raising resident and non-resident fees and adding explicit rehearsal/decoration charges). The ordinance text as read enumerated included equipment and setup items and listed the new rates discussed in the public explanation.
All introduced ordinances were moved and seconded for introduction; none of the items listed in this session were finally adopted (except the separately debated Main Street EDD sales-tax ordinance covered in a separate article). The council took public comments on several items and scheduled public hearings where required.
