
Council Preview: Vote on property tax veto and $1M for golf carts
Lafayette’s Parish Council will vote Tuesday on overriding Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s veto of a small property tax bump.
Lafayette’s Parish Council will vote Tuesday on overriding Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s veto of a small property tax bump.
Tax revenues are up for the City and Parish councils this year, and a vote is set for the city’s first short-term rental rules.
LCG’s budget is a vision statement and an action plan. What matters then, is what we believe our priorities should be. What are yours?
As tensions flared between Lafayette’s two city court judges, Odinet and Saloom, the Louisiana Supreme Court stepped in and appointed a special judge to serve as tie-breaker over administrative matters of the court.
Lafayette has historically made public golf a top priority. Is that really a good idea?
Legislative bodies appropriate money, not the executive branch. But that’s exactly what’s been happening at LCG for more than a decade in conflict with a pair of attorney general opinions.
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.
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.
There’s a Cold War between the mayor-president and the City Council that could flare up at any time. The city faces a slew of controversial issues, while the parish’s finances continue to teeter on the brink of collapse, and consolidation is put on trial. These are the major stories I’ll be tracking at LCG this year.
While Lafayette’s economic forecast isn’t bright, it’s not near as dark as the mayor-president has made it out to be. That means the City Council can avoid drastic cuts.
It’s not surprising that the decision to shutter widely used cultural and community facilities has sparked significant public outcry. But it’s a choice — not a necessity.
The gist: This week’s council meetings include a number of items that will tee up bigger projects and decisions to come affecting everything from sewer capacity and Vermilion flooding to how the budgeting process will work and how parks will operate.
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