New Iberia city government will have a dedicated source of funding for repairing roads after voters in the city chose to rededicate a 6.83 millage during the Oct. 14 election.

By the end of Saturday night, the ballot proposition finished 68% of local residents voting in the affirmative and 32% voting in the negative. This is the second time in two years that the proposition was presented to New Iberia voters, with the first attempt failing by only 133 votes.

“Like I said last year, our voters are always right,” Mayor Freddie DeCourt said Saturday night. 

The mayor thanked the New Iberia City Council as well as the private citizens who formed a political action committee for the proposition this year that he credited for the proposition’s passage. 

“A lot of people really worked hard for this,” he said. 

The unofficial turnout for the election was 30.5%. There were 3,742 that voted for the proposition and 1,781 that voted against it. 

The millage, which is not a new tax, will draw an estimated $1.4 million for the purpose of constructing, improving and maintaining public roads and streets in the city limits. The millage was previously dedicated to sewer debt in the city, but Mayor Freddie DeCourt said the rededication will allow local government to have a long term solution to one of the most cited complaints of New Iberia – road conditions.

Supporters of the proposition conducted a year-long campaign to talk with voters regarding the issue, including DeCourt moving his desk to the front of City Hall and allowing any public resident to ask questions about the proposition and any other city topics they had in mind.

The city is currently in the middle of renovating several streets in New Iberia using bond money that is only able to be floated about once every ten years. The benefits of the proposition, DeCourt has said, is that it gives the city the ability to continuously address city road conditions.