re: Dear St. George peeps - please vote in favor of the 2% tax on the December ballot

It is astonishing how many stupid people there are in here that are trying their hardest to sound like they know what they are talking about.
It's been very simply stated all your voting on is if the 2% tax that already exists goes to Broome or St. George.

Pulled from the sample ballot:

quote:

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Shall the City of St. George City be authorized pursuant to La. Const. Art. VI, Section 29(B) to levy and collect a perpetual tax of 2% upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the distribution, the consumption, and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and on sales of services, as presently defined in and subject to the tax exemptions in Chapter 2 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes beginning on April 1, 2025 in the City of St. George ("Tax") to replace the 2% sales and use tax previously levied by the Consolidated Government for the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge with the proceeds of the Tax to be used for general municipal purposes within the City of St. George including but not limited to, acquiring, constructing, improving and maintaining public works with an estimated annual collection of $48,000,000 and shall the proceeds of the Tax be subject to funding into bonds as authorized by law?

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Right. But I can see how it's confusing...The words "levy" and "replace" are the ones I'd point to. And nowhere in there does it say that if it's voted down people will still pay the 2% it will just go to Baton Rouge.

If I read that with no additional information I'd think a no vote would mean I'd pay 2% less in taxes as well.

ETA: I know it's all legal language, but I would think you could simply say "to redistribute (or reassign) the 2% tax revenue from Baton Rouge to St. George" to be more clear.

Bump

Y’all should definitely be voting yes for this. You’re going to pay it either way, would you rather Broome and her cronies in BR get to spend it or the St George leaders get to spend it? That’s what you’re ultimately voting for.

I saw some numbers regarding early voting and they looked good.

It’s all about turnout. Don’t buy into the myth, Sid has a shot.

I Almost never vote for taxes or even renewals - but this one is different. Not a fan of folks telling other folks how to vote but this is a no-brainer IMHO.

quote:

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It’s about local control of your taxes for local services. You can watch the SG people with a 50 or so million dollar budget than the folks downtown who spend hundreds of millions of dollars on all kinds of things.

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It’s definitely about a “Yes” transferring the existing 2% parish tax to StG’s authority instead of keeping it under Parish & Broome control, and results will not increase taxes with a Yes or decrease taxes with a No.

Misinformation of this election trying to push “No” votes is likely being pushed by Broome and others who want to keep this revenue under metro-council control and bankrupt StG.

My question is why didn’t the StG Transition District Board just implement the tax while it existed instead of requesting it?

quote:

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After the swearing in, the board proposed a money-making measure for city. The newly sworn in transition district members voted and approved a request to transfer revenue raised under a 2 percent sales tax from East Baton Rouge Parish to St. George.

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Board had the power to levy the tax temporarily.

quote:

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… only in the event the city of St. George is incorporated, the St. George Transition District is hereby created as a special taxing district whose boundaries are coterminous with the municipality…

…the district is hereby authorized to levy and collect a sales and use tax not to exceed two percent. However, the district shall not levy or collect a tax if the rate thereof, when combined with the rate of the municipal sales and use taxes collected within the municipality, exceeds two percent.

The tax shall be imposed by the district without the need of an election and shall be levied upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the distribution, the consumption, and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and on sales of services in the state, as presently defined in and as provided by Chapter 2 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, subject to the tax exemptions provided in Chapter 2 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the levy of the tax shall be effective and the tax shall be payable beginning on such date as shall be provided by the district.

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I have been assuming since original plans called for this vote to happen later in 2025 that the statute required Board members including Broome or her designee didn’t have the votes to always favor the best interests of StG which all was allowing Broome to negotiate amounts handed over. The board controls flow of tax revenue into the interim city govt or wherever else. The Board will ceases to exist after a Yes victory for StG or at the end of the quarter after a No vote loss for StG.

Required members:

quote:

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B.(1) The district shall be administered and governed by a board of directors of five persons composed of:
(a) The mayor-president or his designee who shall be a registered voter and living in the district.
(b) One member, who shall be a registered voter and living in the district, appointed by the senator representing Senate District No. 6.
(c) One member, who shall be a registered voter and living in the district, appointed by the member of the House of Representatives representing House District No. 66.
(d) The chairman and vice chairman for the petition for incorporation of St. George or their designees.

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Bump for the weekend. Sid can win, and so can this tax transfer.

Geaux Vote!