Mayoral hopeful urges tax relief

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 2, 2008 - Page: 3B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President candidate Ron Johnson on Wednesday called for sales tax relief and possibly tax rebates for residents trying to rebuild after Hurricane Gustav.

“Baton Rouge homeowners are suffering due to the hurricane and they need help in this crisis. They need relief or Baton Rouge will be blue for a long time,” Johnson said of the blue tarps on roofs of homes damaged in the Sept. 1 storm.

Johnson, during a Wednesday news conference, asked the Metro Council to consider giving tax relief to residents.

Johnson said residents need tax relief and not a tax hike, referring to Mayor-President Kip Holden’s proposed bond issue that would raise sales and property taxes to improve parish infrastructure, public safety and create economic development.

Johnson gave no details on the tax relief, just a suggestion to parish leaders to take money from what Johnson described as a “$182 million city-parish budget surplus” to help residents.

Holden, running against Johnson, said the city-parish does not have a $182 million surplus or anything close to that amount.

Holden said Johnson’s call for tax relief is “fiscally irresponsible” and shows that the “guy has no idea how government runs.”

“This shows he knows nothing about the budget process and what a novice he is. If we went with his suggestion, the city-parish would run a deficit, which is against state law, and it would shut down government which would cause massive layoffs and would create a Wall Street-like crash for the local government,” Holden said.

Johnson said the Metro Council could scale back the sales tax on building materials for hurricane repairs and possibly give tax rebates to residents who have repaired their damaged homes.

In a news release, Johnson also suggested lower sewer and garbage fees for a “certain allocation of time” to help residents afford rebuilding.

In addition to Holden, Johnson is running against Metro Councilman Wayne Carter and the former legislative auditor Dan Kyle.

Kyle said there should be no tax hikes or tax relief until the parish’s economy is thoroughly analyzed .

“This parish is facing hard times because of the what’s going on in the stock market. It’s a very difficult time and we need to look at everything closely,” Kyle said.