LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (BRPROUD) — Drainage improvements in Livingston Parish are up for debate, but it would come at a cost.
Councilman Shane Mack is looking for money to fix drainage. He wants to use taxes from the library to pay for it.
District 9 Livingston Parish Councilman Shane Mack said, “The longer we wait to come up with our list of projects that really improves drainage in Livingston Parish, the longer we wait to fund this, the worse it’s going to be.”
He said two options are to work with an existing parish wide tax or to create a whole new one.
“I do think it is wise to look at existing funding to see what the possibilities are. to see if we could maybe redirect some funding towards a much-needed gravity drainage system,” said Mack.
One option is taking half of the library’s property taxes and putting it toward drainage District 8.
Mack said, “I don’t want people to feel like we are fighting hard against the library system, that’s not it. that’s just an entity under the direction of the Livingston Parish Council that we’re looking at to see what the possibilities are.”
Drainage District 8 encompasses 80 percent of the parish.
Livingston Parish Library Director Giovanni Tairov said, “This is not to negate the drainage in our area, but the library is an important resource for everyone in our community. A reduction in funding depending on severity will also result in a reduction in our services.
They said if their budget is cut-their services are cut.
This proposal would have to be approved by the voters before the tax is changed.
Parish Councilman Mack is still looking at options for how to pay for his plan.
