The Lafayette City-Parish Council on Tuesday will once again vote on a resolution that would pave the way for an April 21 half-cent sales tax proposition for city of Lafayette voters to decide.
The Lafayette City-Parish Council on Tuesday will once again vote on a resolution that would pave the way for an April 21 half-cent sales tax proposition for city of Lafayette voters to decide. If approved, the additional tax revenue would be used mainly to fund the salaries for firefighters who will man two new fire stations on the south and west side of the city. The council voted down the resolution in late January and it appeared all but dead, at least for the near term, but Councilman Jay Castille of District 2, himself a retired firefighter, got the resolution back before the council. Castille, who is also the Carencro city manager, is at a conference and couldn't be reached for comment.
If approved by the council as a resolution and ultimately approved by voters in April, Lafayette's city sales tax would rise to 8.5 percent. The new tax would replace 5 mills of the overall city property tax - a millage that is set to expire this year. That property tax generates about $6 million annually. The half-cent sales tax is estimated to generate about $16 million, meaning Lafayette Consolidated Government would be taking in $10 million more in revenue than it is currently. And the new revenue would be generated by everyone who makes retail purchases in the city of Lafayette as opposed to only property owners in the city who are currently generating the funding. Food and prescription drugs, which are currently exempt from the state sales tax, would also be exempt from the proposed city sales tax.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council auditorium.