Bond issue goes down in defeat

• By GREG GARLAND
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 15, 2009 - Page: 1A

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Mayor-President Kip Holden’s $901 million capital improvements tax package was soundly defeated by East Baton Rouge Parish voters Saturday.

The tax package failed with 64 percent of voters against the proposal and 36 percent in favor, according to complete but unofficial returns from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.

The vote total was 45,851 against to 25,766 in favor, according to the unofficial returns.

Holden, a second-term mayor who campaigned vigorously for the bond issue, had described its passage as critical to the city’s future development.

He did not respond to the Advocate’s requests for an interview Saturday night, made through his aides.
But he told a television reporter that the problems the bond issue were aimed at addressing “are not going away.”

Prior to Saturday’s vote, Holden would not say if he would go back to voters next year and try for a third time to pass a tax package. A similar measure failed by a narrow margin during last year’s Nov. 4 presidential election.

The tax package that voters rejected Saturday was backed by the business community, as represented by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and labor and several professional groups.

But the proposed tax increases also drew organized opposition from the Baton Rouge Tea Party, which actively campaigned for its defeat.

It also was criticized by some residents who said they didn’t like the bond issue being presented as an all-or-nothing proposition that combined the proposed $225 million Alive riverfront attraction with infrastructure and public safety projects.

“I think Baton Rouge has sent a clear message that we’re not interested in having the city own the Alive project,” said Dwight Hudson, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Tea Party group. “We’re ready to take care of our vital infrastructure needs but we’re not interested in assuming the risks of the Alive project.”

The tax package consisted of a half-cent sales tax increase and a 9.9-mill property tax.

The taxes would have funded downtown development projects, drainage system improvements, a new public safety complex and parish prison, traffic light synchronization and a new juvenile services facility.

The public safety and infrastructure improvements accounted for $534.7 million of the tax package — about 60 percent of the total. The remaining $366.3 million was to go toward building two parking garages downtown, to expand and upgrade the River Center and to construct the Alive project.