Our Views: Plan divides EBR cities
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East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden’s decision to push a separate taxing district for his capital improvements plan is the latest sign of the political fragmentation plaguing this parish.
Holden placed a nearly $1 billion tax plan on the parishwide ballot in November to fund a new parish prison, new headquarters for the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, renovation of the Governmental Building and synchronization of more than 200 traffic signals. The plan also included expansion of the River Center and a new riverfront attraction, presumably to be operated by the Audubon Nature Institute. The mayor-president’s proposal also included money for a new juvenile justice facility, replacement of some aging fire stations and some drainage improvements.
Holden’s tax proposal failed by a narrow margin last year, and opposition to the plan was strongest in Baker, Zachary and Central. Holden wants to bring a similar plan to voters in November, but through a taxing district that would exclude the incorporated areas of Baker, Zachary and Central. The tax proposal will be somewhat smaller than last year’s proposal because it would eliminate projects proposed for Baker, Zachary and Central.
Eliminating Baker, Zachary and Central from the tax plan might make it easier to sell, but the move raises a question. All residents of the parish stand to benefit from proposed projects such as a new parish jail, new headquarters for the Sheriff’s Office and expansion of the River Center. If these projects are retained in Holden’s new tax plan, and if residents of Zachary, Baker and Central stand to benefit from these projects, shouldn’t they be asked to help pay for them?
The communities of Baker, Zachary and Central all have broken away from the East Baton Rouge Parish school system and formed school districts of their own. Holden’s proposed taxing district further advances the notion of East Baton Rouge Parish as two parishes — one defined mostly by the city, and the other composed of suburban communities. What’s missing seems to be any real sense that the fortunes of urban Baton Rouge and its outlying suburban communities are inextricably linked.
Until more residents of East Baton Rouge Parish embrace that reality, the parish isn’t going to meet its potential.
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