Lafourche voters to decide fate of Vets’ District property tax

South Lafourche voters will decide a property-tax renewal for the Veterans’ Memorial District on the May 4 ballot after the Lafourche Parish Council rubber-stamped the proposal at its Feb. 26 meeting.

Taxing districts must first attain council authority before approaching the voters. The Lafourche council voted 8-0 in favor of its inclusion, with Councilman John Arnold absent.

The district encompasses the entire 10th Ward, which is in Lafourche Parish south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Voters established the Veteran’s Memorial District in November of 2003, agreeing to a 1-mill property tax with 77 percent of 6,500 votes. The tax has since been rolled back to 0.98 mills.

If renewed, the tax would stay at that level and stretch from 2014 through 2023, raising approximately $510,000 each year.

The revenue would be used to maintain a transportation program that shuttles local veterans to Veterans Affairs hospitals in New Orleans, Houston and beyond – a service that costs roughly $7,000 per month – and to help finance a walking trail and reflection pool, district president Linton Doucet said.

The parish council gave the walking trail a commitment of $75,000 through capital outlay in the 2013 budget. The trail will remember deceased veterans with in 24-square-inch blocks featuring biographical information, Doucet said.

The district is based in one office building on Dursette Street in Golden Meadow.

In addition to starting the two-van transit system, free to the 96 veterans who use it, the tax in the first 10 years funded the creation of a memorial wall. The wall stands 8-feet tall and includes 3,000 names inscribed in black granite, Doucet said.

“We call it a dream come true and a promise kept,” Doucet said.

Councilmen Daniel Lorraine and Jerry LaFont, the two representatives of the district, offered verbal support.

“Almost every family in this parish is touched by a veteran,” Lorraine said.

LaFont, who typically decries property tax referendums, said he would back the initiative as long as the veteran’s district doesn’t “turn into a recreation district.”

 

Council shakes up Lady of the Sea hospital’s board of commissioners

Despite pleadings from hospital staff, the parish council ratified a lawmaker’s appointment to the Lady of the Sea Hospital Board of Commissioners, ousting a sitting member despite his continued interest.

Darren Duet, a general practitioner at the hospital, will replace Bryan Duet (no relation) on the five-person board. Councilman Jerry LaFont nominated Darren Duet, and the vote passed 7-1, with Councilman Phillip Gouaux in opposition.

“I want truthful, honest answers,” LaFont said after the meeting of his decision, adding that Darren Duet is “a doctor and an ally of mine.”

When asked whether Bryan Duet had lied to him, LaFont said the Lady of the Sea board of commissioners misled him as a whole regarding its intentions on a property-tax call the board wants to present to voters.

The board is seeking council permission at the March 12 regular meeting to present voters with a property-tax bond issue on the May 4 ballot.

The issue was initially raised at the Feb. 5 council meeting, but the proposition needed to be reworked to satisfy regulatory requirements.

During the Feb. 5 meeting, LaFont said he was told at the district’s previous board meeting the measure would not raise existing taxes. The actual tax call estimates a hike of 0.2 mills.

So the board is asking voters to increase the district’s taxing power by 0.2 mills in case the extra revenue that amount would raise is needed to sate $3 million in general obligation bonds the district seeks. It’s an increase in the ceiling, not necessarily the actual tax, Parish President Charlotte Randolph said.

The hospital board seeks the $3 million bond to build a new facility on its current campus.

Tax rates for general obligation bonds fluctuate depending on the cost to the district.

Within eight years, the hospital district will also pay off its bonds related to the construction of the hospital’s emergency room in 2001, which will lower the general obligation millage to roughly 0.5 mills, the district’s chairman said.

Still, LaFont said he felt deceived and pointed to that as one reason for the appointee change-up. He also said the change serves as a warning to board members in his jurisdiction that he’s not hesitant to make changes.

William Crenshaw, the hospital’s chief of staff, urged the council to retain Bryan Duet, saying he is “one of the main reasons the hospital is in the black.”

The council debated whether Bryan Duet’s lack of formal application to retain his spot prevented him from nomination. In the end, it was decided that he was eligible for nomination, though the vote on Darren Duet was held first. Once he was appointed, the matter was complete.

LaFont, using a dairy product as a metaphor for the switch, said the action should deter complacency among board members. “Growing up, my cheese was always moving,” he said.

The commissioners serve six-year terms and must be from the parish’s 10th Ward.

Leeville en route to cultural district designation

The parish council has given the go-ahead on establishing a cultural district in Leeville.

Named Leeville Fishing Village, the district would encompass the portion of unincorporated Lafourche Parish south of the ring levee system and north of the boat launch project.

The council agreed with an 8-0 vote to apply for the special district to the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

If approved, Leeville Fishing Village would be eligible to offer tax credits on expenses to revitalize buildings that are either generate revenue or are owner occupied. The designation would also allow the waiver of sales and use taxes derived from the sale of original, unique artwork.

Janet Rhodes, picked to lead the district, said it could “change the opinion and attitude of what Leeville is. … This is going to finally give Leeville the branding and recognition it deserves.”

More than 60 cultural districts – including Houma and Grand Isle – are scattered throughout the state.

As the coastline has eroded, authorities have worked to enhance the infrastructure of south Lafourche Parish outside the levee system to ensure unimpeded safe transit to and from Port Fourchon.

As of now, Leeville rests at the base of the elevated La. Highway 1 bridge to Fourchon and Grand Isle, but the eventual plan – to tuck the base of the elevated highway inside the levee system – would mean that Leeville could be forlorn by tourists travelling to Grand Isle, business owners fear.

Lafourche Parish Government and the Greater Lafourche Port Commission have contributed to the construction of a $1 million boat launch that advocates say could help drawing tourists to the area.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph said the cultural designation would be recognition of Leeville “as it was and as it is now.”