The Lafayette Parish School Board hasn’t quite decided yet how to ask voters to approve a new property tax this fall for school maintenance and its facilities master plan, and now board members may be asking for another property tax on the same ballot to fund a universal Pre-K program.
According to The Advocate, Wednesday’s board meeting ended with no action and no date set for the property tax vote, but the board has two propositions its considering: One would place a 2-mill property tax on the ballot to fund 20 years of school maintenance. The other would ask for the same millage for school maintenance, but also include an additional 5.4 mills that would raise $8.1 million a year for 20 years and fund a districtwide Pre-K4 program:
The board did not make any decisions related to the propositions or the timing to bring the issue to voters. But members were presented with two options: Oct. 22 and Nov. 19. If the board opts for an Oct. 22 ballot, it must approve a proposition by June 29.
The new property tax, which could be a near impossible sell for voters with a no new tax sentiment and a board that in the past used maintenance money to fund everything except maintenance, would pay for the first phase of a $1.1 billion facilities master plan adopted by the board last year. As part of the facilities master plan, the board created a Citizen Oversight Committee make suggestions on how to fund the massive facilities repair project.
The oversight committee was clear in its request that the tax verbiage specifically direct the tax money to the master plan and facilities maintenance. Oversight committee members also want to ensure they are still a part of the process when its time to implement said plan. But as committee chairwoman Sarah Walker pointed out Wednesday night, the propositions up for discussion leave out those two key components.
The board’s bond attorney Jerry Osborne says the prop on the ballot would be too wordy if it includes a clause that bars any new tax revenue from being funneled elsewhere in the system. After all, such provision would exceed the 400-word limit for the ballot.
Read more here.
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
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JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
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