City officials here are preparing to try to do something that is never easy – convince residents to increase their own taxes.
At the July 9 council meeting, Mayor Ricky Calais offered a preview of the case to be made over the coming months that it’s time to make that difficult decision. Calais said that, while everybody likes low taxes, the city-wide sales tax of one cent on the dollar is not sufficient to keep up with the needs of a growing community.
The penny tax was enacted in 1973 and was not an unusual level for south Louisiana municipalities at that time. But in the intervening 46 years, all area towns except Breaux Bridge have raised their sales taxes. Most have a sales tax rate from 1.5 to 3 percent, with the highest, Youngsville at 3.5 percent.
Calais said that over the past year city road work as well as sidewalk construction and repairs, park improvements, water and sewer system improvements and extensions and drainage improvements have all been accomplished using city reserves, grants and parish recreation bond funds.
These sources have mostly been used up and Calais reports that very few of the city’s needed projects can be financed with current sales tax revenues. All but $101,000 of the $2.675 million of city-wide sales tax revenue is consumed by the police department alone.
In fact, all non-utility revenue sources, including sales taxes, license and franchise fees, permits and video poker proceeds, minus expenses, leaves the city with a discretionary surplus of $821,000. Calais says that will not finance the immediate needs of the city, much less the quality-of-life improvements needed if Breaux Bridge intends to keep younger residents from moving away to start families or businesses. “We need to give young people a reason to stay,” he said.
The mayor laid out a number of pressing needs that will be hard to realize without the tax increase, including:
•Improved access and infrastructure for business development along I-10.
•Street extensions, including Mills and Latiolais streets, to allow development in the area east of Rees Street.
•Equipment, particularly an additional exca-
vator and dump truck.
•A city jail or temporary holding facility.
•Improved youth recreational programs.
With the mayor and all
council members solidly behind the proposed
increase, voters can expect to see a concerted effort to convince them of its importance. Voters will decide the issue in the regular election on November 16.
School Supplies
Council members Scotty Borel and Earnest (EJ) Ledet will participate in a newly-organized school supplies give-away program. The event, to be held from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 27 at Carl Williams Park, will help insure that all Breaux Bridge children are well equipped and ready to learn on the first
day of school, August 14.
Code Enforcement The council approved a measure to make some city code enforcement officials, including Director Joseph Guidry and reserve Breaux Bridge Police police officers. The change will give the officials more authority to carry out enforcement actions such as issuing citations for code violations.
Finally, the hiring of experienced police officer Gerald Bouquet was approved. Bouquet will return to the Breaux Bridge department after a stint with the St. Martinville Police Department.
Chief Rollie Cantu said this addition brings the number of patrol officers up to the full complement needed to fill all shifts adequately.
