Metro Council Refuses to Endorse CATS Tax

March 29, 2012 0 Comments

BATON ROUGE — In a major blow to the proposed $184 million CATS property tax, the Metro Council refused Wednesday to approve a resolution endorsing the tax, which will be on the April 21 election ballot. CATS stands for Capital Area Transit System, a state agency created by an act of the legislature in 2005.

Metro Council member Denise Marcelle’s proposal was supported by a long line of speakers representing non-profit organizations that receive government funding, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, which receives $450,000 a year from the Kip Holden administration. Some of supporters said that while they appreciated the Council’s support, they weren’t worried because, “We’ve got it done” or “We’ve got it covered.”

The CATS tax was opposed by the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish, Taxbusters, and the Tea Party of Louisiana.

Republican parish chairman Woody Jenkins, who lives in the inner-city, said almost the entire $184 million tax would come from homeowners and small business. ”This tax would apply only within the city limits of Baton Rouge. So large corporations such as Exxon, Albermarle, and Entergy, which are located in the industrial area outside of the city, would not pay the tax. Nor would Mall of Louisiana, which is also outside the city,” he said.

“Homeowners in the inner-city are being deceived,” Jenkins said. ”The CATS board says this tax would not be subject to the homestead exemption. That is completely illegal. The Louisiana Constitution very clearly provides that the homestead exemption applies to all property taxes, with the sole exception of municipal property taxes. But the CATS tax is not a municipal tax. CATS is a state agency — not a municipality, a municipal agency, or a municipal district. CATS is trying to steal the homestead exemption from the homeowners of Baton Rouge, and that is downright wrong.”

CATS authorized the $184 million tax increase to be placed on the April 21 ballot without the approval of the Metro Council. Jenkins told the Council, “You had nothing to do with proposing this tax. The proponents of this resolution want you to vote for it, in order to get you to put your fingerprints on it. They want to be able to run TV and radio spots promoting the tax by saying it’s been endorsed by the Metro Council. If you vote for this resolution, you will be to blame for it.”

Jenkins said, “I’ll say one thing that no one in this room can dispute: The buses are running empty or near empty. Bus after bus with two or three — or no riders! If you pass the CATS tax, you’ll just have twice as many empty buses running around Baton Rouge.”

Businessman Watson Tebo said, “No private enterprise would be run the way CATS is run. They are losing $720,000 a year on buses to Zachary, and yet refuse to make cuts.”

“If there was great demand, people would be waiting in line. They’re not. You don’t see that. This is extremely wasteful,” Tebo said

“The theory of this is, we have buses running empty, so double the number of buses. Think of it, can you image Delta Airlines flying empty planes on the theory that that will get them more passengers?” he asked.

“This proposes raising the CATS budget from $12 million a year to $30 million a year. Who gets that kind of increase overnight? If we pass this, we will spend 1/5th of a billion dollars and have nothing to show for it.”

Attorney Steve Myers said, “At least they admit it is a tax — not a ‘transportation convenience fee’!”

“We should have transportation where we need it. There are few routes that would make sense. Whatever happened to test marketing?” he asked.

Myers said, “Instead of giving $184 million to CATS, why not give a brand-new $18,000 automobile to every person who rides the bus. That would cost less than $184 million!”

“I have apartments. If this passes, I’m going to include an addendum to every lease where the tenant agrees to pay an additional $300 to $400 a year for the transportation tax,” he said.

Local businessman Alex Velasquez, representing Taxbusters, said, “I want every Council member to vote on this. Put your hands on it, so the public will see where you stand. This proposal will increase property taxes for small homeowners by 79 percent, while the Country Club of Louisiana pays zero.”

“Seniors over 65 lose their tax exemption under this proposal, and everyone loses their homestead exemption,” he said.

Velasquez criticized the appearance of Baton Rouge Chamber president Adam Knapp’s speech in favor of the CATS tax. ”There is a business relationship between the Chamber and the City-Parish government. The City-Parish pays the Chamber $450,000 a year. If the Chamber doesn’t meet their expectations, they may lose their money.” Velasquez questioned where the Chamber is truly representing the small businessmen and women of Baton Rouge.

Taxbusters president Elizabeth Dent, a resident of Mid-City, told the Metro Council, “The force of public opinion cannot be resisted. I’d like to state the facts: In 2002, the City-Parish budget was $492 million. This year it is $745 million. That’s a tremendous increase!”

“Two years ago, the voters defeated CATS’ proposed 3.5-mill property tax. This tax would be three times larger. You keep coming back over and over. You should find the money for buses in your $745 million budget. The people who would be hurt the worst by this tax are those who can least afford to pay it.”

At that point, Metro Councilman Ulyssus Addison, a Democrat, brought Chamber president Adam Knapp back to the microphone. He said, “I want to ask you one more time, just to be sure I understood. Is the Chamber for this tax?” Knapp said, “Yes.”

Referring to supporters who said they really didn’t need the Council’s support, Addison said, “I don’t appreciate being told ‘We got this’ and insulting the role of the Council. I don’t have a problem with the Republican Party standing on their principles. We should give the opponents what they want and just get out of the way by deleting this resolution from the agenda.”

Addison’s motion to delete the resolution would eventually be approved.

Councilman Smokey Bourgeois, a Republican, said, “This is a massive tax increase to reward bad management. I see buses all over this city with three or four people on them. It makes you wonder. I saw buses [from a private company] with handicap accessibility, wi-fi, a/v, and bicycle racks. You could run four of these on natural gas for the cost of one of these big buses.”

“This is not rocket science. You’re going to tax me thousands of dollars,” he said.

In response to charges that the bus system will be shut down, Bourgeois said, “The bus system is not going to just stop. If you defeat the tax, it will force people to sit down and make some changes.”

Trae Welch, a Democratic councilman who represents Zachary and parts of the north part of the parish, said, “A lot of information has come out just today. People have a lot of convincing to do between now and April 21. I have a monthly meeting next week in Zachary. I invite the proponents and the opponents to come and make their case. I support transit, but I like what Smokey [Bourgeois] said.”

Council member Denise Marcelle, a Democrat and the author of the pro-CATS tax resolution, said, “I support transit and the 157 employees at CATS. We had a Blue Ribbon Committee that vetted this. I’m not intimidated by a resolution from the Republican Party. As far as the 79 percent increase in taxes, the people in Zachary pay a lot, but they pay for education. People pay for what they want. Waiting times would be reduced by this. Listen to the Together Baton Rouge presentation and at least be informed.”

Marcelle said, “We’re not here to fill up every bus but to get people to work. Transportation reform affects everyone.”

However, Marcelle said, “I will support deleting it.”

Council member Tara Wicker, a Democrat, said, “I’m taken back. I see divisions based on economic differences. We’ve gone a long time without a solution. We have to look at Baton Rouge as a city. This conversation is so unbelievable.”

Councilman Addison moved the previous question and Mayor Pro-Tem called the question. There was no objection to withdrawing the resolution.

After the meeting, Republican parish chairman Woody Jenkins said, “This was a great victory for the taxpayers of the City of Baton Rouge. When we walked into this meeting, the resolution endorsing the CATS tax was about to pass. But the Metro Council listen to many voices from property owners and killed the resolution to endorse the tax. This simply shows how important it is for conservatives to be involved in the process here at the Metro Council.”

Jenkins said Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Walker and all of the Council members were very courteous to all of the proponents and opponents of the CATS tax. ”The meeting could have been very contentious, but it was a very respectful hearing.”

At its next meeting, the Metro Council is scheduled to consider an ordinance by Council member Marcelle to remove most of the accountability that the CATS board currently has to the Council.