Following a series of amendments added to the $581 million budget submitted in late July and approved Tuesday night by the City-Parish Council, C-P President Joey Durel has 10 days to decide whether to nix the amendments and force a possible veto override showdown.
Following a series of amendments added to the $581 million budget submitted in late July and approved Tuesday night by the City-Parish Council, C-P President Joey Durel has 10 days to decide whether to nix the amendments and force a possible veto override showdown.
As The Advertiser reports today, part of Tuesday's meeting was marked by confusion as council members wrapped their minds around new allocation formulas for how the city of Lafayette and the parish should split the cost of operating Lafayette Consolidated Government. Durel has pushed the issue, arguing that the funding should be split according to population distribution. The city currently comprises 54 percent of the overall parish population but shoulders more than 80 percent of the cost of running government. After some back and forth the council ultimately approved new formulas.
The council also approved more than 20 amendments to the budget in one fell swoop, kept LCG's funding of the Cajundome at half a million dollars (Durel had proposed increasing Cajundome funding to $550,000), shifted some funding in the budget to other projects and once again batted down attempts by the council's most conservative members to cut funding for arts/culture and social services.
Read The Advertiser's report here.
The Advocate's account can be read here.
To watch Tuesday night's council meeting in all its tedious glory, click here.