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Lafayette City Council faces another bright red line on ARPA veto vote
With a set of vetoes, the mayor-president has boxed the City Council in again, setting the stage to spend city money without their approval.
With a set of vetoes, the mayor-president has boxed the City Council in again, setting the stage to spend city money without their approval.
The roles have reversed from the 2020 budget cycle, and now the City Council ought to play budget hawk.
Too many of the proposed projects deliver questionable returns, create unfunded maintenance liabilities, and inexplicably use parish dollars to pay for city responsibilities.
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils.
Mayor-President Guillory wants the City Council to approve a $406 million five year capital improvement program that would saddle the city with $180 million in new debt. Yet he hasn’t revealed plans, garnered public input, or addressed long-term maintenance liabilities for most of these projects. The City Council should tread carefully.
Some controversial items are up for consideration this week, like declaring a new Willow Street jail a public necessity and calling a charter commission to examine further changes to Lafayette’s home rule charter.
Projecting historically big increases in sales tax revenue, he is championing a quarter billion dollar increase in the city’s five-year capital outlay plan, including $132 million of new debt.
The lack of engagement might be forgivable if the proposal was amazing, but it’s not. We need to start over from scratch.
Up for votes and discussion are a host of issues, including next year’s budget, how to spend the $83.5 million of fiscal recovery money, taking first steps to build a new jail, rezoning the Oil Center, investing $1 million in parks, and more.
The marriage that is consolidated government is crumbling before our eyes, with both the City and Parish Councils failing to follow the fundamentals of healthy relationships. Something’s got to change.
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils.
The American Rescue Plan Act is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make our community better, one we can’t afford to waste.
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