re: Baton Rougeans...how much better would life be in St George?

I believe St. Georges biggest selling point should be an ISD and have a good plan in place. I feel if they had their ducks lined up and a good outline of how they intend to improve the educational system then more would vote for it.

It's ridiculous how much EBR parish spends per student and just look at the results. Meanwhile 265 miles to the west they are spending much less per student and get amazing results.

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"One big HOA" yes, except right now if you are in EBR Parish and not inside of the city limits you are living in an even bigger HOA with far less control over some over your tax dollars and unable(so they were told) to form an ISD.

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I agree. Im not really arguing for or against St. George specifically because Im not that familiar with the situation. I was just talking in generalities about incorporation.

I personally think incorporation sucks donkey dick but recognize it has its uses in many cases and many folks love living in very controlled environments. Some are willing to give up some liberties and $$ for safety and control. To each his own.

What a great Republic we have.

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Is it better to get these services from the big guy Downtown, or from a smaller city closer to your home?

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Local governments ALWAYS govern best. The closer an individual citizen is to his government more he can touch his representation and the more accurately those representatives reflect the wishes and concerns of their constituents.

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Life is just terrible out there off Highland and old Perkins. Although I did see quite a few new for sale Signs in Santa Maria and Willows today.

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After reading your posts, I know you don't get out our way very often because if you did you would know there's way more to SG than Highland Road subdivisions.

You'd see Inniswald, Shenandoah, Village St. George, Westminister, Woodlawn Acres, Old Jeff, Antioch, and many other good, solid neighborhoods with blue collar and white collar residents.

There's way more to St. George than just country clubbers.

Quit trying to make this upper class versus lower class because it is not.

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What percent of residents of St. George have school age children?

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I haven't seen that on line anywhere.

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In addition, what percent of St. George residents with school age children are wiling to pull their children from the private/Catholic schools because of the possibility a decent public school. My guess is those that truly struggle to pay tuition would make the switch, but many of us would prefer to keep our kids in the parochial schools whenever possible.

Pointe Coupee isn't far away and it's a pretty decent example. They now have a STEM school that has taken a huge chunk of the students from False River Academy, but I am fairly certain the Catholic school over there has the same enrollment if not higher than in the past. Most Catholics will keep their kids in the Catholic school system if at all

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If I had to guess, initially the schools would be made up of kids who currently attend the EBRSS, and a small percentage of kids who attend private schools at the time the ISD starts up. I'd guess that younger children in the schools would be more likely to change schools than older kids.

I remember when Tara opened up. The seniors stayed at BRHS, but more of the younger students elected to go to Tara. Then kids advancing from elementary to middle school or from middle school to high school would be more likely to change.

But two points here, people would have a choice and I don't foresee an avalanche of kids initially. The ISD would need to prove itself before it would reach their maximum enrollment.

I think that's good, too many kids in SG from day one might not be a good thing. A gradual increase IMHO, would be better.

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a huge chunk of this wouldn't be spent locally. Speaking for myself, that extra $25k year would go to vacations, a fishing camp, or my retirement fund. None of which would benefit the local (st george) economy. Some people would build/buy a nicer house which is helpful to the local economy as long as they are buying the materials within St. George, but many lumber yards and material suppliers are still with the BR city limits.

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So if you tell me that I'm going to have 8-20K more disposable income, and I live in SG, how can this be a negative thing? I see it as a great selling point. If we build a good ISD, and if we have people who have two good options for their children's education, and it puts money in their pockets, helps the local economy, and lifts the community; exactly what is the problem?

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So if you tell me that I'm going to have 8-20K more disposable income, and I live in SG, how can this be a negative thing?

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Are those numbers coming from savings from private school? I would imagine property taxes would increase as well and maybe substantial increase. Are you factoring in a certain increase in property taxes for the new St. George ISD. Residents are still paying state income tax.

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I would imagine property taxes would increase as well and maybe substantial increase

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Perhaps taxes will be raised, perhaps they won't be raised, but if a guy is saving 8 to 20 K a year, increased property taxes won't be a very large factor for him.

Now for a guy like me with no kids it's a factor, but one you have to weigh.

First an ISD doesn't automatically raise your taxes. Currently we pay school taxes to the EBRSS. these taxes go to fund the system and to build new schools. Some of these taxes are up for renewal in April., but we are paying them right now so it's not as if we aren't already paying taxes for new schools because we are.

But say if the leadership deems taxes are necessary. They have to prove their case and there has to be an election. Taxes can not be unilaterally assessed. Voters, my neighbors have to vote for them. I feel comfortable knowing that. It's not like the COA election where the entire parish votes.

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Residents are still paying state income tax.

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Of course creating St. George won't remove you from state taxation. That won't change.

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Wrong. I drive all over SG and it's neighborhoods every day for work.

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Then you know there is way more to SG than CCL.

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I truly don't know where all these "pot holes you constantly complain about are.

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Aren't you the guy that works for the highway dept.? If so I now understand why you can't find the pot holes.

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In fact, the roads seem in pretty good shape over on that side of town

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Some are better than others, just like in all of the parish. The problem comes up when the pot holes pop up, or when it rains and water doesn't drain off the roads, the ditches are full of weeds, trash is in the ditches, and road signs and road striping is not properly done.

You honestly don't see that?

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And the new oneal expansion is very nice.

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It is very nice. All of O'neal is very nice now.

The Greenlight plan worked very well, for the most part our taxes did a lot of good and Kip Holden stuck to his promises. Now we need to finish it, and whether there is a SG or not, it will continue.