Parish Road Plan Is Great for Central

I’ve been studying the Parish Road Plan to be voted on Dec. 8 for the last couple of weeks and worked out the numbers. The infrastructure improvements planned for the City of Central amount to $88 million. That includes $50 million to four-lane Hooper Road from Blackwater to Sullivan and $38 million to four-lane Wax Road from the Central Thruway to Magnolia Bridge.
To fund that, the residents of Central will pay an additional 1/2 cent sales tax. That tax will produce only $1.4 million a year — far less than the cost of the two projects. The amortization of $88 million at 3.5 percent over 30 years is $4.7 million a year — far more than the $1.4 million a year produced by a half-cent sales tax. That’s a great deal for Central!
The difference between the actual cost of the projects and what we will pay in sales taxes is $3.3 million a year. This is possible because the rest of the parish will also be paying the tax. The infrastructure projects are primarily in the Central area and the southern part of the parish. In reality, the rest of the parish will be heavily subsidizing the projects in Central.
Here’s the best part. At first, when I began examining this plan, I focused on Hooper and Wax. I immediately saw the benefits of widening those roads. I also immediately saw the cost-benefit of paying $1.4 million a year to get $88 million in capital improvements. Frankly, that’s a no-brainer.
But then I started looking at the projects OUTSIDE Central. Their importance to Central began to jump out at me. I counted at least six new or much improved ways to commute from East Baton Rouge Parish to Livingston Parish WITHOUT going through Central.
The improvements on Hooper, Sullivan, and Wax will virtually eliminate the gridlock in Central during rush hours on this side of the river. At the same time, the improvements outside Central will take thousands of additional East Baton Rouge-Livingston commuters off Central roads entirely.
This plan was approved by the Republican majority on the Metro Council. All of the tax dollars in the plan must be spent on the specific projects in the plan. It will not be legally possible to raid the fund.
The Mayor-President said the Parish Road Plan should be data-driven, based on traffic counts and other objective criteria, not based on politics, and the projects included in the Plan parishwide all appear to be greatly needed to help solve our huge traffic problems.
Politically, there are a couple of other things to consider about this plan: 1) The politics of the parish are deteriorating because of demographic changes. In 2016, East Baton Rouge Parish voted for Hillary Clinton by a 20,000-vote majority.
Next year, in 2019, left wing Democrats plan to challenge the Sheriff, Assessor and Clerk. The numbers in those races look bad! We could see dramatic and unexpected changes in law enforcement and tax assessments next year!
There’s also a good possibility that Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome could face a radical leftist Democrat in 2020. She would be strong against a leftist Democrat or against a conservative Republican. However, if both a strong leftist Democrat and a strong Republican entered the race, there is the distinct possibility that the Mayor-President would run third, and that the radical Democrat would win the runoff. That would be a disaster for the parish.
After the 2020 Census, the Republican majority on the Metro Council could be gone.
As a result, if this plan fails with the voters on Dec. 8, the chances of getting a data-driven Parish Road Plan in the future would be slim.
More likely, a Democrat majority on the Metro Council would propose a very different infrastructure plan. They would probably offer a plan funded by a property tax that would be spent in each Council district on a pro rata basis.
If the votes on the CATS tax, the Council on Aging tax, the Library tax, and the BREC tax are any indication, they could go to the people and pass anything they want.
That’s why we need to act now to lock these projects in, before any revolutionary changes are made in the City-Parish government, if such changes are made.
A tax plan based on inner city politics is very unlikely to be so generous with Central and southeast East Baton Rouge Parish. As a result, if this fails, these much-needed improvements may never be made.
As you analyze this proposal, it is important to include in your calculus the politics of this parish and the tremendous changes that could be about to happen. Parish voter registration is currently 49 percent white, 46 percent black and the rest other. Black voters overwhelmingly vote Democrat. White voters tend to vote Republican but not nearly so heavily. In fact, many of the white voters in East Baton Rouge Parish are very liberal and vote Democrat.
The choice here is not this plan vs. some ideal plan that will be presented in the future. Because of politics, the choice is probably this plan vs. some unknown future plan driven by inner city politics.
For Central, this plan solves a lot of problems. The reality is, it is probably either this plan or nothing. The half-cent hurts nobody but relieves tremendous problems affecting everybody in Central
I hear people railing about this being another tax. It is, but not all taxes are created equal. This tax is very, very favorable for Central.
Also, don’t say Central doesn’t get anything. That is completely false. Look at the Central Thruway! Not only did the City-Parish build it, but it was the largest infrastructure project in the history of the parish. Also, when the many bridges on the Thruway caused huge cost overruns, the parish did not abandon the project or ask Central residents to fund it. Rather, they found other sources of money.
We can also look at the positive impact of the state in building Joor Road and widening Magnolia Bridge. Central has been getting some
important infrastructure projects.
It would be a huge mistake to miss this opportunity to solve the problem of Livingston Parish commuters causing gridlock in Central.
This plan will move people through Central far more quickly by four-laning Hooper and Wax. Just as important, this plan moves people AROUND Central in new and rather unexpected ways. It is a very good plan for Central.
My recommendation is look at the maps. Look at what it will do for Central — not only Hooper and Wax but the new options it creates for moving commuters around Central instead of through Central.
Don’t let people who don’t understand what this plan does persuade you to vote against the city’s and your own vital interests.