re: Sen Bodi White introduces bill to increase St George sales taxes up to 2% more

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You have to wait until they declare a state of emergency in EBR before you can find out what's really in the bill. That part of the language throws me for a loop because then you have to start digging up Louisiana constitutional law.

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Nope. They are not going to "declare a state of emergency"at some point. The bill states that a state of emergency will be created by the incorporation St. George in that without a legislative vehicle such as this bill, there will be no mechanism for the current 2% sales tax to continue to be levied on the new city. This is not some strange plot to usurp power. It is a necessary step to provide for an orderly transition in governance should St. George in fact become incorporated through a vote of its residents.

The "state of emergency" language allows for the establishment of a taxing authority outside the normal governmental bodies simply because they won't exist yet. It's not nefarious. It's not conspiratorial. It's responsible.

If this bill or one similar does not pass, then if St. George is incorporated there will be a period where there is no governing authority or taxing authority for the city of St George. The Parish authority to levy the 2% sales tax dies with the effective date of the incorporation.