Gateway to authorization hinges on next water bill
May 16, 2012‘Game Changing’ HNC project under way
May 16, 2012
Long-time Terrebonne Parish coastal restoration advocate, industrial leader and current member of the Mississippi River Commission Clifford Smith, 77, says public opinion during the time ballots are cast will influence future funding for the interior Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system.
With legal authority to impose an up-to-one-cent sales tax, the Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District Morganza Funding Advisory Task Force is expected to recommend a financing package on May 31, that could take the form of a sales tax, ad valorem tax or combination of the two. Such a recommendation could be placed on a ballot and go before the voters as soon as the Nov. 6 general election.
Smith, retired CEO of T. Baker Smith, is known as one of the founders of local coastal protection concerns and said Monday that the economy and weather conditions will determine if passage of a measure to generate $120 million in Morganza revenue passes or fails.
“[Storm surge protection and coastal preservation] is so critical for our community,” Smith said. “It is going to end up being a popularity contest. I don’t think people understand how critical it is and unless they feel a personal threat they are not likely to support it.”
In 2001, Terrebonne Parish voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to assist financing construction of the interior levee and floodgate system. In 2006, taxpayers were again approached for financial support, but the measure failed by a slim 123 votes.
“I think that one failed because we had a higher population and people did not recognize the need,” Smith said. He did not have an answer why voters would not have responded more favorably following the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, other than the fact that 2006 offered a hurricane-free season for the immediate area.
“I don’t think the public understands how critical this is,” Smith said. “We are faced with increasing costs with permitting and construction and it is only going to go higher. We are also faced with a growing population and rising water table.”
Smith said that public education and awareness will be the only tool that can save Morganza funding. “For me, it is pretty depressing,” he said. “We have made some strides [with coastal protection] but we are losing ground every day. I can’t imagine anything more important to invest our dollars in, but I don’t think the public understands.”
