Early voting for the November election starts on October 18th, and KATC TV-3 is giving you the information you need to cast your ballot in local races.
Today, we're giving you some details about a drainage tax renewal in St. Martin Parish; tomorrow, you'll hear from the candidates for Delcambre Police Chief.
We'll have election stories like this for you every day through the 17th. If you want details and links about voting and registration, click here.
Here is the video of our interview with Parish President Pete Delcambre, who talked with KATC TV3's Paris Flannigan about the drainage property tax that's up for renewal. Below the video, you can read the transcript.
So when it comes to the ballots,, let's, and then just to get on the record, you have 400 miles of road. Correct?
Yes, ma'am, 400 miles of road, 600 miles of canals.
Now, let's get to the drainage tax.
Well, in regards to bringing up the canals, yes, we, they call it a 38 1 13. This is an actual designated canal in St. Martin Parish, of which we have 600 miles. Again, I give the analogy: You can drive from here to the east coast of Florida, and that's the number of just these 113 canals. Now, that does not include additional drainage ditches, and, and that we also take care of. So, St.Martin Parish is a very broad in regards to square miles. It's a very large parish with many roads and drainage that we take care of. Again, the millage on this drainage was rolled back and decreased to where the people are not paying any more than what they paid before.
Why is this tax, this tax renewal, drainage and the roads why are they important?
Well, all of these mills are important. We have eight mills actually on the ballot. However, again, this millage is actually a service, a service provided by the parish. So, for each and every one of these services, you name roads, bridges, and drainage, we also have fire protection. We also have the health department and the industrial park. We also have, you know, all eight villages combined, each one designated to a particular service, and with these services provided to the people, I just wanna, we don't have a whole lot of say so in federal taxes and somewhat in state taxes, but you do have a voice in these local millages and you know, you can vote yes or you can vote no, but voting no would greatly decrease the services being provided to you, the taxpayer of St.Martin Parish. And every ten years, there is a millage renewal and a bring back to the people for their vote and sometimes there's a rededication, you know, where the the money is being spent can be used somewhere else, so, that's the reason for the renewal. You know, we do not want to tax the people any more than what is necessary to take care of the service being provided. so with time and the passage of time, sometimes you have to adjust, readjust, and sometimes take the entire village off of the board. We don't need it anymore, so that's the reason for the 10-year renewal dates on these things and for the roads.
I had a question on here that asked, Will this go towards any future projects, but like you said, it's maintenance?
This is a tax renewal, so no, not an increase.
If you don't mind me asking, how has the drainage been in St Martin Parish since the tax was incorporated? In other words, how has the tax benefited the drainage system?
Well, you know, people, when you look at drainage, when the sun is shining, you don't think about drainage. However, a couple of months back, we had 10 inches of rain in two hours in the broad bridge vicinity, and believe me, it has become a problem, a major problem. You know, we have three public works department crews, ten men each, and we have over $5 million worth of equipment. We have five supervisors daily. We have work orders going out to take care of just the maintenance of these canals and drainage. We have a contract who comes in and does spraying, you know, herbicide spray. You know, we do everything within our means to be able to keep the drainage canals and drainage ditches open to make sure that that it's functional and that the people of Saint Martin Parish are being well served.
Especially when it comes to hurricanes, right?
Yes, ma'am.
Any major projects have been done with the tax in relation to drainage, I guess, generically, just cleaning them out, maintaining them?
Well, this is maintenance. However, we do. I'm glad you mentioned that, you know, through bonds and other projects and internal taxes and so forth. We do take on different laterals and our canals that we need to either do internally or outsource to contractors to come in on projects that are normally too large for us to handle. So these large drainage canals and so forth that we cannot handle. We actually have a number of these that we is perennial. You know, we finish with one, we're on to the next one. You know, it's just a drainage is an ongoing thing. It's always been here and it will never end. So the, the reasons for the mills and the, and the funding to be able to continue these things
To look at the difference between state projects road projects and parish road projects, I can go on dotd.com, right and I can tell the difference between the two, and they'll show me what roads are being done?
You know, anywhere that you see, LA, let's say 347 L A 31. These are all state roads, you know. So where the state actually in there when y'all gonna do, when y'all gonna do this, when y'all going to do this, you know, it's like, and then you have to explain to the people, this is a state road, you know, we cannot, nor do we do them, nor can we do them, nor do we have the money to do them. But the state takes care of them and all the others if they're not parish roads.
Got you. LA 31 and LA 34.
These are the two main roads that go through Saint Martinville. Go all the way up into Breaux Bridge and into the Cecilia area. You can go down into Iberia parish, etc., but that's not the parish. That is, that is, state roads; yes, ma'am.
