After months of discussion and public outcry, the Lafayette Parish School Board is finally set to decide Wednesday whether to place two separate tax proposals on the ballot for voters this fall.
The first property tax, which would levy at least 23 mills in its first year to fund the issuance of $561 million in bonds, would be used to pay for the first phase of a $1.1 billion facilities master plan adopted by the board last year. Also included in the tax proposition is an additional 2 mills to be set aside for maintenance of the district’s schools and other facilities.
The other tax proposal, first introduced June 15 with a proposed 5.4 mills, would now — if approved — allow the board to levy an additional 12-mills that would raise no more than $19.5 million a year to fund a districtwide Pre-K4 program.
LPSS Finance Director Matt Dugas tells The Advocate that the sudden increase on the pre-K tax proposal acts as a safeguard for any potential future loss of state funding. The Advocate reports that over the past five years, Lafayette Parish schools have seen a loss of more than $736,000 in state funding for pre-k and other early learning programs.
The board’s quest for more tax money has raised concerns from some in the community, such as the 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette, which asked the board a few months ago to hold off on a property tax until it selects a permanent superintendent and a long-term education plan to address the broad achievement gap for at-risk, low-income students.
And no surprise here, the tax props are also under fire from the Tea Party of Lafayette, one of the city’s most active political groups as of late. The group, on its website, has this to say about the school board: “Last time LPSB got a tax increase, it brokered a deal with the Chamber of Commerce to implement reforms and achieve performance benchmarks in exchange for the Chamber’s support on the sales tax increase. LPSB never even TRIED to hold up its end of the bargain after the election. That tax increase in 2001 was for teacher pay raises, but LPSB used the money instead for its own pet project – lower class sizes. LPSB ignored considerable pressure from the Chamber to hold up its end of the bargain.
“LPSB built 4 new schools in the late 90’s [sic], ignored a court order to desegregate, and was later forced to build a 5th school that it hadn’t budgeted,” TPL continues.
The special school board meeting, open to the public, is at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the central office.
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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What's a good web reference for this kind of stuff? I saw another article today with "sic" after a decade with an apostrophe....