Mayor argues road tax needed

• By KEVIN BLANCHARD
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Mar 11, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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BROUSSARD — A new tax to improve and expand the road network in Lafayette Parish could result in savings to taxpayers through reduced travel time and gasoline use, Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais said Monday.

The economic development that would surface along new roads would help benefit the tax base of other public services such as schools and law enforcement operations, Langlinais said.

Langlinais has spoken about the issue to the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and hopes that the Lafayette City-Parish Council will eventually tackle the topic of road infrastructure as well.

In 2006, voters across the parish shot down a 1-cent sales tax proposal for roads and drainage infrastructure.

But the needs of the parish aren’t going away — they’re only getting worse, Langlinais said.

People should realize, however, that traffic congestion has a real cost — a cost that would decline with a better roads network, Langlinais said.

Langlinais has been compiling information from Broussard City Engineer Dean Tekell, Lafayette Parish Tax Assessor Conrad Comeaux and demographer and School Board member Mike Hefner to help back up his argument.

The argument is strengthened even more given that it looks like $3 a gallon gas is here to stay, Langlinais said.

The analysis, which was completed by Tekell, also assumes someone’s time is worth $10 an hour.

At $3 a gallon for gas, someone who drives 20 miles a day — if they are able to see a 10 percent decrease in travel time — would save about $230, based on a 20-mile-per-gallon gas efficiency, according to the study.

The more you drive or the less efficient your vehicle is, the more it would save you to cut your travel time — more than $1,000 in savings a year for driving 100 miles per day, Langlinais said.

The impact would be felt the most for companies with large fleet vehicles that spend a lot of time on the road, Langlinais said.

Langlinais had Hefner take a look at what effect a 1-cent, parishwide sales tax would have on the average Lafayette Parish consumer.