Baton Rouge’s mayor-president has proposed a transition plan to allocate local revenues to the new city of St. George in the wake of the city’s Transition District authorizing a lawsuit against the city-parish over the transfer of sales tax revenues.
Sharon Weston Broome proposed a transition agreement that would provide the new city with $600,000 per month, or $7.2 million annually, as the city-parish continues to provide St. George residents with essential services until the new city is fully up and running. The funding formula reflects the estimated parish tax dollars collected from within the boundaries of St. George and the value of services being provided during the transition period, according to the mayor-president’s office.
Broome pledged to work with the city’s new leaders and negotiate “amicably and in good faith” in order to serve the best interests of all residents.
“The parish tax dollars the city-parish is currently collecting in the St. George area are dedicated to delivering ongoing essential services to our citizens,” Broome said in a prepared statement. “At this point in the process, to simply send those dollars to representatives of a new city who do not have a plan in place to continue the vast majority of those services would be irresponsible and a dereliction of my duty to the taxpayers.”
A spokesman for the mayor-president’s office told the Louisiana Record that officials would continue to keep interested parties updated on future developments during the transition negotiations. Broome released the city-parish’s transition agreement on Aug. 29. It must be approved by the Metropolitan Council and St. George officials in order to take effect.
She pledged that the proposed $600,000 per month would increase proportionately as various municipal services are transferred from the city-parish to the new city. Initial funding transfers could begin by Sept. 30, according to Broom’s proposal.
In the mayor-president’s plan, the proposed effective date for St. George’s incorporation is July 1. But St. George officials have previously proposed a 2019 incorporation date, based on when a majority of residents in the proposed city voted in favor of incorporation. The efforts to put St. George on course to break away from the city-parish have involved multiyear court battles, culminating in April when the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a 4-3 decision concluding that organizers followed the proper incorporation procedures.
In May, Gov. Jeff Landry appointed an interim mayor, Dustin Yates, a veteran of the St. George Fire Department, and a chief of police, Todd Morris, who has 34 years of experience in law enforcement.
“Chief Morris and Mayor Yates have the experience needed to fill these roles – especially during this important time of transition,” Landry said in a prepared statement in May. “I look forward to the work they will do to ensure St. George is a safe and thriving community.”
There are also issues related to St. George’s obligations to provide funding to the system that provides post-employment benefits to retired city-parish workers, according to Broome.
The Transition District earlier this year authorized a lawsuit if such a legal action is needed to secure a fair sales tax transfer from businesses that are within the boundaries of St. George.
St. George officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.