JEFFERSON BUSINESS COUNCIL SUPPORTS PASSAGE OF CONSOLIDATED WATERWORKS MILLAGE AND CONSOLIDATED SEWERAGE MILLAGE ON OCTOBER 19TH BALLOT
By unanimous vote taken at its regularly scheduled membership meeting held on August 21st, the membership of the Jefferson Business Council expressed support for the Consolidated Waterworks millage and the Consolidated Sewerage millage which will be on the October 19th ballot.
Parish President John Young appeared at a special meeting of the JBC to outline the importance of the millages and what effect it would have on infrastructure and services if they did not pass. Failure of the waterworks millage would jeopardize completion of a number of important capital projects that are already underway and would cause an immediate loss of Federal and State funding of approximately $8.5 million dollars as well as eliminate future Federal and State funding opportunities. Emergency repair programs would receive reduced funding resulting in longer response times, inability to replace equipment, water pressure drops and increased possibility of boil water advisories. Property insurance ratings could be lowered resulting in increased insurance rates.
Failure of the sewerage millage will result in reduced levels of service with longer response times. Also approximately $37.5 million dollars in low interest Federal and State funding already approved would be lost along with future opportunities. Enforcement actions by DEQ and/or the EPA brought due to system failures would result in costly fines and possible judicial action against the Parish.
JBC Executive Director, Tony Ligi stated:
“Our membership took into consideration that Jefferson Parish has an aging waterworks and sewerage system that will require increased attention to maintain standards required by state and federal agencies. Maintaining and improving these elements of Parish infrastructure should be prioritized so that Jefferson Parish can continue to offer a high quality of life for its residents. These millages are a relatively small price to pay for the services that they are tied to. The waterworks millage will be $3.70 per month for a house valued at $200,000. and $.74 per month for a house valued at $100,000. The sewerage district millage would cost $.75 per month for a house valued at $100,000. and $3.73 per month for a house valued at $200,000. JBC members believe the important services and projects financed by these millages cannot be lost and support passage of both millages.”