Will The CREATE Initiative Derail LCG Drainage Efforts?
With another week of rain and, in some cases, flooding, the issue of drainage has come back to the forefront in Lafayette Parish. Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux says the answer is shifting some existing tax revenue to fund system improvements. The re-dedication of 1.1 mills would mark the start of a major overhaul. City-Parish leaders stress that voting yes on the drainage measure is not a vote to increase taxes. It would keep the tax rate exactly the same as is currently in place. Currently, public health, animal control, and mosquito control departments are overfunded and part of the surplus would be used to fast-track some priority drainage projects.
Another consideration is the one-time $500,000 allocation for the CREATE initiative. This funding is tied to the drainage measure on the November 18th ballot. CREATE is an effort by Lafayette Consolidated Government to promote the region's second-biggest economic driver: tourism. Opponents of the measure have criticized LCG for attaching this funding to the drainage measure, but Robideaux doesn't expect it to have a negative impact at the polls.
Mayor-President Joel Robideaux joined Rob Kirkpatrick and Bernadette Lee on Friday's edition of Acadiana's Morning News.