Redirect funds to help fix roads?

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, April 10, 2018

A tax rededication to supply a revenue source for repairing roads in Iberia Parish will be up for discussion at Wednesday’s Iberia Parish Council meeting. 

The proposed resolution is being introduced by Councilman Ricky Gonsoulin, who said the intention of the rededication is to address one of Iberia Parish residents’ most cited complaints. 

“Far too often the number one complaint is roads, and the answer from everybody is that we have no road funds, we have no money. Sooner or later, you have to address the problem,” Gonsoulin said.

Gonsoulin’s proposal is to rededicate the parish’s quarter-cent sales tax that is being used for mosquito and drainage. The rededication would allow the option for those funds to be used for roads, and would create more taxes for residents. 

“I don’t intend to change anything from collection to distribution,” Gonsoulin said. “I just want to use the additional money for roads and drainage where we see fit. If we have a year with a lot of drainage problems, so be it. But if there’s an opportunity where we can use it for road repairs, let’s do that.”

The IPC doesn’t have the authority to change a dedicated tax, so the proposal would have to be put up for a vote. If the resolution is approved by the Finance Committee and Parish Council, Gonsoulin said he is hopeful of seeing it on a November ballot. 

The parish councilman stressed if the tax was rededicated, it wouldn’t be an instant fix for the parish’s road problems. 

“This is a starting point, but we have to start somewhere,” he said. 

In other business, the council also will consider a resolution to create regulations in relation to swimming pools and spas. The agenda item would be geared specifically to neglected or inoperable swimming pools and spas, and would create penalties and violations if a pool has been neglected. 

Gonsoulin, who is introducing the resolution, said there were cases of swimming pools on abandoned properties creating a mosquito problem for residents. 

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Iberia Parish Courthouse. The Parish Council also will consider:

• A resolution approving the issuance of a bond not exceeding $3 million for sewer revenue. 

• A resolution granting partial substantial completion to the Iberia Parish 2017 bridge replacement project. 

• A resolution authorizing the parish president to execute an Act of Correction and Quitclaim Deed or other similar instrument between the Iberia Parish Library Board and Iberia Parish Government for property at 2306 Coteau Road.