Pproponents of the plan argue that putting off these repairs, upgrades and school replacements will cost more the longer the parish waits.
A political action committe formed in mid-August in support of the Lafayette Parish School System's Oct. 22 tax proposition for the Master Facilities Plan has produced a website laying out its case that passage of the tax is essential for the future of the parish's public school system.
The website, Invest in Our Children's Future, was created by a PAC of the same name. The site includes a 10-minute video produced by the Lafayette chapter of the League of Women Voters detailing the more deplorable conditions of some of Lafayette's school facilities. The video was actually produced more than three years ago. The site also contains a more slickly produced 30-second commercial advocating passage of the plan, in addition to links to CSRS' master plan - a $1.1 billion undertaking that has been split into two phases, the first of which is on the Oct. 22 ballot and would fund $561,000 in projects through a 25 mills increase in the parish property tax.
The site argues, as proponents of the plan have for months, that putting off these repairs, upgrades and school replacements will cost more the longer the parish waits:
With the ages of our school buildings and the lack of preventative maintenance and capital projects, our school facilities will age faster and cost MUCH more to repair. Waiting costs more money rising costs, inflation and tighter budgets will cost us more year after year. Using a 3% inflation cost and factoring in the price tag presently of the 1st Phase of the Master Facility Plan ($561,000,000) we would see an increase of at least $16,830,000 dollars by waiting just ONE more year!