Metro Council weighing task force to review city-parish’s financial needs 

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The Metro Council is set to consider the creation of a new task force to review all city-parish revenues and recommend the best methods to support the area’s financial needs.

The topic will be discussed during a public hearing at tonight’s regular meeting.

The proposed group would comprise 11 members, chaired by District 4 Council member Aaron Moak.

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Moak, who is spearheading the proposal, says the projected lost revenue for the city-parish after the creation of St. George was a big factor in the suggestion to create the task force.

The council approved its 2025 budget in December. The approved budget shows that East Baton Rouge Parish will lose close to $40 million in revenue in 2025 due to the creation the new city.

“I was looking at the revenue that the city brings in as a whole and what we can do to reprioritize, possibly, any different revenues from many different streams,” Moak says. “This is not about reducing taxes or increasing taxes, this is to give the public the open transparency of every taxing authority they may have voted on in their lifespan.”

Other members of the proposed task force would include:

• A Metro Council designee
• Mayor-President designee
• BRAC designee
• Baton Rouge Growth Coalition designee
• Federation of Greater Baton Rouge Civic Associations designee
• Parish attorney designee
• Director of finance designee
• Council administrator-treasurer designee
• LSU department of economics chair designee
• Southern University department of economics chair designee

Designees from the parish attorney, council administrator and the two universities would not have a vote or count toward a quorum.

Two separate cooperative endeavor agreements, each worth $100,000, between the city-parish and the LSU and Southern University boards of supervisors to fund an East Baton Rouge Parish entrepreneurial and economic development program will also be heard during a public hearing on Wednesday.

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A separate item adopting a memorandum of understanding between BREC and the city-parish to enter into a cooperative endeavor and a right of use, possession and occupancy agreement related to the design, construction and operation of a new community center in District 6 will also be considered.

The estimated cost of the project design and construction is $7 million. The center is proposed as a gathering space and a location to provide senior services, health care, emergency shelter, social services and recreational activities.

BREC is expected to match the contribution received by the city-parish for construction costs up to a maximum of $2 million.

Two items will be introduced during the regular meeting and heard at a public hearing next month:

• A resolution calling a special election on Oct. 11 to vote on the renewal of a 10-mill tax in the Downtown Development District for five years, beginning in 2027. The tax is estimated to generate $741,390 annually for planning, development, management, operation and improvement within the DDD.
• A resolution calling a special election on Oct. 11 to vote on the renewal of a 10.50-mill tax for 10 years beginning in 2026. The tax revenue would be used to maintain and operate the parish public library system and improve services, acquire land and construct new library facilities.

View the full agenda.