Legislative session sidebar: How locals voted
June 5, 2012Our view: Budget fails to fit state’s future needs
June 5, 2012
Terrebonne Parish voters will be asked to approve a new half-cent sales tax to finance completion of the Morganza to the Gulf interior levee and floodgate hurricane surge protection system.
With a voice vote, 12 of 20 attending Morganza Funding Advisory Task Force members gave a nod Thursday for the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District to exercise its taxing authority.
”This is not just about saving the lower part of Terrebonne Parish, it is about protecting all the parish,” Terrebonne Parish Council Vice Chairman, and task force member Pete Lambert said. “If we don’t protect what we have left now we won’t have anything in the future.”
Meeting as a cross-community representation since March, the task force examined financing completion of the interior levee and flood gate system at a cost of $120 million. The group reviewed several combinations of sales and property tax alternatives for cost effectiveness before making its final selection.
“I hate taxes,” Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District Board of Commissioners President Tony Alford said. “I hate asking people to pay taxes, but this is the only way we are going to be able to complete what we started. We’ve learned that we can’t count on the federal government to help and we have to protect ourselves.”
Originally intended to be a joint construction venture led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and financed in part with federal funds, the Morganza to the Gulf’s primary exterior protective wall failed to materialize and became lost is a series of government studies. With that, TLCD officials decided to do for themselves what federal agencies were not doing for them.
In 2001, Terrebonne Parish voters approved an existing quarter-cent sales tax to assist in levee construction and maintenance cost. Approximately $50 million has been collected from this tax since 2002. Combined with state funding it has built what residents currently see in terms of levees and flood gates.
Voters rejected a second, one-cent, sales tax request by a slim 123 ballots in 2006. Levee board members said the problem at that time was their neglect to educate the public combined with the specific amount requested.
“That was for a whole cent,” Alford said. “This is for half-a-cent.”
The TLCD president said that evidence of what has been accomplished, and an organized explanation of what has yet to be completed, would help the public understand why this project is essential.
“I think a lot of people have seen two things since 2006 that will make a difference,” Alford said. “The big thing is the corps is not coming to save us. I think a lot of people thought when New Orleans was being saved following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the same thing might happen for us.
The other thing is we have already done more work on the ground [since 2006 when the funding was rejected] and they see that the levees are being built and we need to fill in the gaps. Those are two big differences.”
Terrebonne Parish currently carries a 4.5 percent sales tax. Combined with a 4 percent state sales tax, every dollar spent in Terrebonne Parish has 8.5 cents going to government bodies. According to the Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators, voter approval of a new tax would bring that total level to 9 cents on the dollar.
Following the billions of dollars in damages caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, the TLCD began an aggressive approach to storm protection and has spent more than $200 million to construct what is intended to be an interior wall of defense built to federal specifications.
According to Alford, the levee district is now asking for local funds to complete the job. TLCD specifications show that the half-cent sales tax would be used to issue 25-year community bonds and could generate $188 million for the Morganza to the Gulf project.
This would not only finance connecting completed levee reaches, but could also pay for levee extensions in Bayou Black and construction of the Falgout Canal floodgate in Dularge, with a combined estimated cost of approximately $50 million.
“The task force has gone through a substantial amount of data to reach the decision they feel will add to our protection,” Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said. “This is the first step. Let’s just hope the voters approve the selection made by the task force.”
The task force noted that a half-cent sales tax would generate funds from non-residents as well as residents making purchases in Terrebonne Parish, thus easing the overall burden on local taxpayers that might result from other collection methods. It also means that with consistent revenue secured immediate construction can take place.
If approved, the half-cent sales tax would also carry a restricted life of 20 to 25 years, and come with a debt factor, with a portion of the revenue used to pay investment interest during the life of accompanying bonds.
“This decision has been made from a group of people that represents an overview of this parish,” Alford said. “Now we need to start educating the public on what we have done and the progress we have made.”
The task force tax recommendation will now go before the Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District Board of Commissioners. It is expected to receive a stamp of approval there on June 12, and appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
As members of the Morganza Funding Advisory Task Force, Terrebonne Parish Councilman Pete Lambert, left, and Levee District President Tony Alford listen to discussion that led 12 of 20 voting members to select asking taxpayers to approve a half-cent sales tax for construction of the Morganza to the Gulf levee and floodgate system.
