Part 3 – It’s all about the fine print.
The public deserves to know exactly what this proposed tax sales is about. Councilman Everhardt was gracious enough to provide us a copy with the application filed by the Parish with the State Bond Commission to bring this information to the public. This is what real transparency looks like.
So let’s take a look at the application itself, particularly the highlighted sections of pages 2 and 3.
Key Takeaway #1: The tax measure, if approved, would generate $4,666,668 over a four year period. We cannot help but observe that it seems unlikely that the Parish could spend that much in attorney’s fees fighting the Port even if it tried.
Key Takeaway #2: Any “unspent funds” will “be used for infrastructure improvements in the Parish.” It’s difficult to tell whether this was very poorly worded or very carefully worded.
What type of infrastructure improvements? Perhaps like the completion of Riverbend Oxidation Pond Consolidation Project. Run with us here for just a moment…
We recently reported on how the Parish was seemingly negotiating to allow the Port of New Orleans to tie into the Parish’s sewer system in exchange for a $4,000,000 payment to make up for a funding shortfall for the Riverbend Oxidation Pond Consolidation Project. You can read that full article here.
We also recently reported on how the Parish acknowledged that it did not have a Plan B after Councilman Everhardt exposed these negotiations with the Port of New Orleans and effectively stop that deal from going through, at least for now. You can read that full article here.
So, putting all of this together, the Parish could just happen to have roughly $4.6 million to spend on infrastructure improvements in the Parish.
It appears that the completion of the Riverbend Oxidation Pond Consolidation Project would create the infrastructure for the Port of New Orleans to tie in to the Parish’s sewer system. Is this the Parish’s Plan B? It seems coincidental that the Parish needed $4,000,000 to complete the Riverbend Oxidation Pond Consolidation Project and now the Parish is proposing a sales tax to generate $4.6 million dollars that can be used for infrastructure improvements in the Parish.
All of this raises more and more questions. So stay tuned as we try to find answers to these questions.
