Town hall talk turns to tax for Iberia roads

Published 6:00 am Friday, May 11, 2018

A town hall led by three Iberia Parish Council members Thursday night was an opportunity for local residents to learn the developments of parish government over the past few months, but the most engagement came from discussion about a possible road tax. 

The town hall came a day after the Parish Council’s executive committee voted to move forward the process on holding an election for a tax. The agenda item was scheduled due to publication deadlines, but the nature of the tax is still being hashed out before a final vote to bring it to the ballot. 

Council members Paul Landry, Natalie Broussard and Ricky Gonsoulin gave their thoughts about the idea at the Sliman Theater during the town hall, and all were curious whether voters would be receptive to the idea. 

Iberia Parish Government has no dedicated funding for roads in the parish, and a diminishing Royalty Fund has forced the council to work with less and less to build and maintain roads. 

The idea for a tax came after murmurings that state government will be dropping a one-cent sales tax during the upcoming special session. A quarter-cent tax, which would generate approximately $2.5 million, would give local residents less of a hit with that state tax gone.

“From what we’re hearing from our delegation, at least a quarter or a half will be gone,” Broussard said. 

Gonsoulin said the potential tax would only go toward and affect unincorporated residents in the parish, meaning New Iberia, Jeanerette, Delcambre and Loreauville would be unaffected if it passed. 

After some unexpected pushback from the crowd, Broussard said opening it up to municipalities is possible. The reason for excluding the towns and cities, the council members said, was due to the recent passage of a half-cent tax in New Iberia, which they reasonably assumed would deter enthusiasm for yet another tax. 

Although those attending were mostly in support of the measure, all agreed it would be a tough sell in a parish that has had an anti-tax atmosphere despite one of the lowest parish millage rates in the area. 

One audience member brought up gambling as a potential revenue source. Because video poker is banned in Iberia Parish and legal in neighboring St. Martin and St. Mary parishes, it was pointed out that Iberia is losing an easy source of revenue. 

Gonsoulin said that bringing gambling to a vote would require approval by the governor. With Iberia Parish’s two state senators being from St. Martin and St. Mary, respectively, as well as state representatives currently at odds with the governor over the state budget, the prospect of seeing gambling on the ballot was slim. 

Other topics that were brought up included the purchase of the Dutch Gosnell building as the new Iberia Parish Public Works site, the renovations to the Iberia Parish Courthouse, the appointment of a new registrar of voters and the recent appointment of a new director for the Acadiana Regional Airport.