The possibility of consolidating some existing taxes into a single public health millage for Lafayette is dead — for now.

The City-Parish Council failed Tuesday to take a vote on whether to put the consolidation proposal to voters in December, which offers to combine the public health and mosquito abatement millages into one, also adding animal control to that millage.

Animal control has no dedicated funding, and City-Parish President Joey Durel has said the other two public health millages make more money than needed.

But the council failed to vote on whether to bring the issue to the polls, as no one seconded a motion to consider it further. Council Chair Kevin Naquin said that's likely because Durel and Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley were both absent from the meeting, and both are needed to field council questions regarding the matter.

But it doesn't mean the idea is dead: The council can bring it up again at a future meeting.

Also on Tuesday, the council finalized a lease agreement that puts eight more buses in circulation at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for $35,000 a year, adding five buses to a daily route that carts students to and from Cajun Field. As part of the agreement, the city will be responsible for major repairs, but the buses will fill up at the city’s natural gas station

It also voted 5-3 on a resolution that requests the Legislature to require a minimum of one hour in annual training on the state and federal constitutions.

A similar, more stringent measure failed last month: It proposed that officials should take a test measuring their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Both measures were touted by William Theriot, District 9, and Andy Naquin, District 6.

Voting against Tuesday’s proposal were Jay Castille, District 2; Brandon Shelvin, District 3; and Kenneth Boudreaux, District 4. District 7 Council Member Don Bertrand was absent, as he was the last time the council considered the other proposal.

The council also voted unanimously to support continuing operations at the Fort Pork military base, which could face massive defunding.

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