COLUMN: The parish needs to raise taxes (don’t shoot the messenger)
Every part of parish government is underfunded. And there’s no way to fix it without raising taxes.
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Lafayette Parish Council
Council Preview 11/18: A tax break, a city marshal, and four empty directors’ chairs
The gist: After the torrid pace of recent months, the agendas for both of this week’s council meetings are relatively light. There are some big discussion items to watch: redevelopment of the old federal courthouse and filling long-vacant director positions.
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COLUMN: The city of Lafayette is trapped in consolidated government
For the city to control its own affairs, this failed experiment in consolidation must end so our city can be free to govern itself.
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Council Preview 11/4: Parish taxes may be going up and down, a developer asks for a handout, Guillory pushes for symbolic funding for police and fire
The gist: A new .2% parishwide sales tax may be coming up for public vote to help fix the parish’s broken budget. The old federal courthouse developers don’t want to pay more in property taxes. Police and fire may get more money without actually getting more money. And the privatization of city and parish parks […]
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Council Preview 10/20: Funding LCG pay raises, City Council grows impatient, offloading parish parks and rent assistance
The gist: This meeting presents several items at the root of recent confrontation between members of the City Council and mayor-president. Items addressing the council’s bid for independent legal representation, the ongoing LUS investigation and finding permanent leadership for it, LUS Fiber, parks and recreation and the police department are all on that agenda. Plus, […]
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Council Preview 9/15: Overriding mayor’s veto of a lawyer for the City Council, money for rental assistance, controversial “no standing” law
The gist: While Tuesday’s meetings shouldn’t hit marathon status, there’s still a lot to cover including some brewing controversies: a parishwide “no standing” ordinance fought by advocates for the homeless and the ACLU, a proposal to spend $3.5 million in parish dollars to fix a dilapidated garage, and a public hearing for 16 different properties […]
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COLUMN: The parish’s lose-lose proposition to raise taxes
Saying the parish should live within its means is one thing, but actually cutting millions from a threadbare budget is something else entirely. Parish government now faces the unenviable choice of raising taxes or cutting essential services.
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COLUMN: The troubling economics of fixing the Buchanan garage
The Buchanan garage is a dilapidated property on prime real estate Downtown that’s been condemned because of government neglect. While it’d be great to get it back into commerce, the economics of Mayor-President Guillory’s plan don’t add up and they risk the financial health of the courthouse and the jail.
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Council Preview 9/1: Higher taxes, fighting for city autonomy, millions in new spending, new restrictions on citizens
The gist: Tax increases, budget battles, new restrictions on citizens, short-term rentals, millions of dollars being spent on parish parks and the Buchanan garage are just some of what the councils will work through at tomorrow night’s meetings. All of this is set against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating race relations and an increasingly embattled […]
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COLUMN: Lafayette’s top 10 unresolved budget issues
LCG’s budgetmaking process can be complicated in a normal year, and this is far from a normal year. Newly split councils, a mayor-president deadset on slashing budgets, and an uncertain economy has created a perfect storm for a tense budgetmaking process. As the councils round the corner on amending this budget, these are some of the top issues still to be resolved.
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Council Preview 8/18: A report on the LUS report, go-cups (again), early voting in North Lafayette, splitting up city and parish parks
Here are the highlights for Tuesday night’s city, parish, and joint council meetings. To view the full agendas click here, select 8/18/2020 from the dropdown menu, and then click on the agenda or agenda item you want to dive into.
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Council Preview 8/4: Another special meeting on parks, LUS investigations, flood modeling, new early voting sites and scooters
The main hot-button topics are a report on the ongoing LUS investigation, the addition of early voting sites, and the potential establishment of new rules that could welcome shared services back to our streets.
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