AMITE — Tangipahoa Parish voters Saturday rejected a sales tax proposal that would raise nearly $25 million to boost sheriff's department operations over the next decade.

Voters in March had rejected, by a 52-48 margin, a perpetual three-quarter-cent sales tax. Complete but unofficial returns Saturday night showed the 10-year proposal failing by an even wider margin at 57-43.

Sheriff Gerald Sticker had campaigned at local markets, telling voters what they could get for an extra 75 cents on a $100 grocery bill. 

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office responded after the failed vote, saying they will continue to work "understaffed and underfunded."

"The men and women of the TPSO deserve better; better wages and much needed additional manpower," TPSO said on social media. "Sleep tight tonight, Tangipahoa, while just 9 deputies work to protect all 139,000 of you."

Voters also considered renewing a 4-mill property tax for the local parish health units. The levy was estimated to bring in $3.1 million a year between 2027 and 2036. That failed with a 52-48 margin.

A 2-mill property tax to build and maintain public works projects in Hammond, along with road lighting districts throughout the parish, received widespread support with a 61-39 margin of approval