BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Metro Council has approved a controversial property tax that will benefit the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging.

The tax was first passed by parish voters in November 2016 to be put up for approval by the council. The tax is a 2.25 mill property tax for 10 years that would create more than $7 million annually to operate the organization's programs that assist the elderly.

Programs that would benefit from the tax are programs such as Meals on Wheels, wellness programs and personal care assistance programs.

The Metro Council's vote on the tax was originally delayed after a heated discussion in April concerning an audit of the EBRCOA. In that meeting, a lengthy discussion unfolded about the tax itself as the council discussed how to handle what would usually be a rubber-stamping of the tax.

April's meeting ended when several Metro Council members walked out on the discussion, causing the meeting to lose quorum. A decision on the tax was deferred for 60 days as a result.