Parks And Rec Millage Voted Down

The proposed Parks and Recreation millage that would allow the department to independently budget without relying on the LPCC general fun was voted down by the City Council Tuesday.

City-Parish President Joey Durel stopped by "Mornings with Ken and Bernie" for his weekly "Lafayette Live" segment today to discuss the failed millage proposal.

The City-Parish President applauded the Parks and Rec Department for considering options to run itself without relying entirely on the general fund.

It's time for us to stop knee jerking every time we recognize we have an issue. Here we have an issue with Parks and Rec and it's causing a problem for the general fund. - Joey Durel

Though the proposed millage did fail, the issue of funding the growing Parks and Rec Department with monies from the already tapped general fund must at some point be addressed.

Over and over again we're taking money that used to go to roads, bridges, cutting grass, and cleaning ditches, and subsidizing for stuff we have to have as mandated by the state. We have to have a court house; we have to have a jail. At some point we have to start rightsizing millages.

The City-Parish President suggests a resolution by committee to aide in the city's Parks and Rec budget woes.

I think the answer to all of this, and I really hate to use this term, but I'm going to use it, a blue ribbon committee of highly qualified and educated people. People who can take a real in-depth look at the needs and desires of the community, and based on that, how do we fund it.

To listen to Joey Durel's full interview, click the play button below.