Half-cent levee sales tax won’t appear on ballot

Morganza to the Gulf, the federally-sponsored hurricane protection levee system promised for Terrebonne Parish, will certainly be constructed, but the parish may need to levy a half-cent sales tax to construct an interim levee system on its own.

That was the main point discussed at a meeting Monday night of the board of the Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District.

“Morganza to the Gulf will take place,” said Board Chairman Tony Alford. “Our Congressional delegation and the Corps of Engineers agree that it will be authorized.”

Alford believes Terrebonne would be able to raise some existing levees in the parish to 10 feet with revenue from a half-cent sales tax. The board would build and raise levees using in-house equipment.

The board has not determined whether the tax would be assessed parish-wide, or in one or more special districts.

The proposed tax would not appear on any ballot until 2008.

Alford feels that the levee district could get 65 percent matching money from the state.

“I thought it was a no-brainer” to propose the sales tax, he said. “This would make Morganza progress more rapidly. Funding will come forward. We could move this forward to get the levee to 10 feet. We have a good chance for a match. This is the best plan of action.”

Alford said pouring money into levees along the Intracoastal Waterway would leave East Houma vulnerable.

“We’re not ready to write off East Houma,” he said. “Morganza will protect East Houma as well as West Houma.”

One board member said he would love to see 10 feet levees protecting the southern part of Terrebonne Parish.

“No homes would have had water” during recent hurricanes, he said. “It’s half a cent to save yourself.”

“With that limited tax, we could fix just about every levee in the parish,” Alford said.

Terrebonne Parish currently has no hurricane protection levees.

Not everyone is as enthused about the proposed tax as the board.

Gerald Schouest, who spoke at the meeting, said, “Now is not the time to vote on a half-cent sales tax. Please, before going with the tax proposal… let’s get all the questions answered. Will this (Morganza) be authorized or not?”

But Lucretia McBride, who spoke at the meeting and who is a Terrebonne Parish Council candidate, said she is in favor of the tax.

“We can’t expect the federal government and the state to bail us out,” she said. “We need a regional solution.”