GDP, personal income, employment, retail and real estate sales are all increasing, but without oil and gas recovering our economy is trending towards mediocrity.
Answering your questions about EDDs
Are they TIFs? How much are the taxes? Where are the districts?
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6 min read
COLUMN: EDDs gone wild as trust in government tanks
Setting aside the philosophical argument about EDDs in general, the way these particular districts are designed is problematic.
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10 min read
Analysis: Lafayette will have its hands full paying for pay raises
The City-Parish Council’s decision to authorize $3.8 million in pay raises for the Lafayette Police Department was unanimous but not without complication. While the move is a victory for police, who said the new money was needed to stop a crisis in officer turnover, the added costs have put a spotlight on a weakening of the city‘s finances. And there […]
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9 min read
We’ve got five billion reasons for you to vote
In total, the one mayor-president, five city council members, five parish council members and nine school board members we’re electing will decide how $5 billion will be spent in our community over the next four years.
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5 min read
COLUMN: The elephant in this election is Lafayette’s billion dollar infrastructure deficit
Years of kicking the infrastructure can down the road has finally caught up with us.
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11 min read
The parish can’t afford to fix drainage without more money
Some want to claim that the only thing preventing us from fixing our flooding issues is a shift in priorities. But the reality is that the parish can’t afford to fix its drainage system without more revenue.
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5 min read
Robideaux’s ‘mission accomplished’ optimism obscures a troubling reality
The mayor-president believes Lafayette is in its best financial position ever. His optimism overlooks flatlining property tax revenue.
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9 min read
When up is down in Lafayette’s retail sector
Lafayette’s retail sales are on the rise after a string of bad years. But we still have a long way to go.
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11 min read
Those rosy unemployment numbers don’t tell the whole story
An improving unemployment rate offers an incomplete picture. Fewer people aren’t unemployed. Fewer people are working.
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5 min read
What happens when a Walmart dies?
Walmart’s decision shines a light on serious issues with no easy answers.
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7 min read
Retail and home sales up, unemployment down, but there’s more to this story
Recent headlines indicate 2018 might be the year our economy started recovering. But there’s ample evidence that any optimism should be guarded given the situation our economy’s in.
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9 min read