VOTERS TRASH LAFOURCHE GARBAGE TAX

A proposal to reinstate a 3/10 of one cent sales tax to continue current service levels of trash collection was rejected by Lafourche Parish voters Tuesday, an action supporters said would likely result in cutbacks of collections.

The tax failed by a vote of 13,950 against and 10,081 in favor, or 58 to 42 percent. Revenues, supporters say, are no longer sufficient to pay for current trash-related services. If the reinstatement would not pass, they said, trash pickup would drop from two days a week to one and bulk pickup as well as removal of tree limbs would be at risk of being cut.

“This decision is not up to me or the Council, it is up to the voters,” said Lafourche Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle, prior to the election. “Voter approval would simply reinstate the three tenths of a penny to the original penny already approved by voters. It would generate enough revenue to pay for current garbage and recycling services next year and for years to come.”

Taxpayers okayed the 3/10 of a cent sales tax in 1986. The Lafourche Parish Council later rolled it back, because the parish was awash in revenues related to what had been an oil boom. That ended in the middle of this decade.

In 2016, Lafourche officials said, the sales tax dedicated to trash pickup and related services brought in about $6.7 million, but trash expenses were $8.2 million. In 2017 those revenues, parish records showed, decreased to $6.4 million while expenses rose to $8.4 million. Money from other parish projects including drainage and recreation, officials said, has been taken to fill those shortfalls.

A belief that a switch to larger trash containers was unnecessary as well as unsightly is among unneeded expenditures that raises costs was among many objections raised by opponents. Some critics said they would not vote for the 3/10 of a penny tax replacement because of displeasure with the level of service. Some complain that trash falls out of trucks and litters the roadsides in Golden Meadow and other communities.

Supporters said that after twenty-two years, taxpayers have saved $66,000,000 (sixty-six million dollars) in uncollected taxes. Despite efforts to extend the rollback, revenues are no longer sufficient to pay for current garbage and recycling services utilized by citizens of Lafourche Parish, supporters including government officials, said.

“The reinstatement is not considered to be a new tax since the tax already exists,” Cantrelle said. “We have considered many options and believe that this option is least costly for taxpayers since user fees are avoided, tourists contribute, and contributions are variable to ones’ level of expenditure.”