re: Is it a lie that Rispone wants to get rid of the homestead exemption????

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That is true. But again Rispone wishes to make changes to areas that were approved by voters already as amendments to protect such areas.

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The entire Constitution was approved by voters.

Many agree it's not a good constitution and it's way too big.
We can change it again. It's not like it can't be done or there will be armagedon. We've had 11 already.

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Well I’ll be dammed. I live in Ascension where the incoming parish president and council want to make huge improvements to infrastructure (which is needed) but I’m not confident that they would keep the homestead exemption at $75k if the state gets rid of it. They could really use that extra money right now to fund their ideas while saying they didn’t increase our taxes, the state did. And our voters here in Ascension are just dumb enough to believe that, too.

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If you don't trust the voters it doesn't really matter who is governor (or parish president or whatever).

That said, most property tax reforms come with a millage adjustment provision. So if more people get taxed, the millages could be adjusted downward to make the change revenue neutral. Of course that might still be up to the local governing body.

But there is a bigger issue. You say you agree that infrastructure improvements are needed. But you don't want to lower the homestead to pay for them. Are you will to pass a tax? Because unless you live in a shack, you are probably better off lowering/eliminating/adjusting the homestead.

I like the idea of making the homestead exempt property from $25k-$75k (or something like that). So everybody pays something. And then each locality could decide to do that to raise money or on a tax neutral basis.

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Amendments/changes to the constitution have been on-going since the 1970's. Nearly every election year, voters are asked to approve numerous amendments to the constitution. To imply that all changes were made in the 1970's is disingenuous.

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Pretending the current 1974 Constiution is "sacred" also disingenuous. We've had 11 state Constitutions.

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But there is a bigger issue. You say you agree that infrastructure improvements are needed. But you don't want to lower the homestead to pay for them. Are you will to pass a tax?

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No, I'm not willing to pass a new tax to get that done. Ascension Parish is wasting lots of money that can be used to pay for improvements. The money is already there. We just need someone who's got the balls to make cuts here and there to reallocate the funds. Hopefully Cointment is that guy.

I would agree with that. The problem I have is with Rispone's silence. Let the citizens of Louisiana know specifically which areas of the Constitution do you support changing, and what changes will you advocate, then let them decide if they wish to elect you as governor or not. What areas of the constitution are you open to changing, and what areas are off limits? Why all the secrecy? Be transparent. If you can't be clear, concise and transparent with your ideas before the election, why should voters believe you would then be all that after the election.

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I would agree with that. The problem I have is with Rispone's silence. Let the citizens of Louisiana know specifically which areas of the Constitution do you support changing, and what changes will you advocate, then let them decide if they wish to elect you as governor or not. What areas of the constitution are you open to changing, and what areas are off limits? Why all the secrecy? Be transparent. If you can't be clear, concise and transparent with your ideas before the election, why should voters believe you would then be all that after the election.

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I remember back in 74 the Constitution evolved. EWE didn't walk into the room and say here's what we're doing, and they all voted yes.

There is no specific plan to change the Constitution, there are just principles involved.

The Constitution we have now puts the state right in the middle of local business. It protects certain groups from spending cuts and in tough times makes other groups the sacrificial lamb.

It also supports a tax code that has proven not to be competitive with other southern states.

Rispone has said all of that, and he knows that changes to a new Constitution have to be negotiated. It's not like the Governor can dictate things, he has to have a coalition on his side.

Getting rid of Sec.8 is intriguing.

Uhhh it would be a good idea.

Get rid of the homestead exemption and lower millages.

Getting rid of the exemption <=> higher taxes.

Getting rid of the exemption will spread the tax revenue over more property. The millages would go down on the same revenue.

I suspect people with $200K houses would actually see a property tax reduction fi the exemption was eliminated and total tax collections by the government were held the same as last year.

“But Rispone would be raising taxes on the poor!”

“But it’s only $5 when they were paying $0 before...”