Durel Talks Budget And Comprehensive Plan: Lafayette Live

City-Parish President Joey Durel stopped by “Mornings with Ken and Bernie” today for our weekly “Lafayette Live” segment.

The ever-busy City Parish President was eager to discuss the latest news from city government. Among the topics covered were the city's budget issues and the injection of Lafayette's Comprehensive Plan.

When asked about the upcoming year's budget, Durel responded,

I hate to say it because I think I've said it every year I've been in office, but this is the most difficult budget we've deal had to with.

The City-Parish President went on to explain the strains on the budget,

An emotional comment that we've all made is, "how is it that we have so many more people here today paying taxes, but we still don't have enough money?" We forget that back in 1975, things like asphalt were $7 a ton. Now its around $100 a ton. If everything had remained the same as it was back then -- we wouldn't have a problem, but all the things that happened to cause retail prices to go up, lawyer rates to go up, insurance rates to go up -- the government is not immune to that.

Durel also defended funding arts and cultures programs,

A prime example of investing in arts and cultures is Festival International. I saw things like Festival International as an organization that brought in $400,000 to the city of Lafayette.  That's not counting the school board, thats not counting the state, or any of that kind of thing. We invested $72,000 and got back $400,000. I saw that as a loan and an investment.

To listen to City-Parish President Durel's full interview as he goes on to discuss the comprehensive plan and other projects, click on the play button below.