Five ideas to improve NOLA at little or no cost
19th December 2022 · 0 Comments
By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer
A few weeks back, on the eve of my 25th anniversary as a reporter for The Louisiana Weekly, I sat with one of the most famed political consultants in Louisiana. For years, he has guided candidates into office, spearheading some of the most prominent political reform movements in the Pelican State, and yet he stunned me with the words, “I think I am going to quit.”
“Candidates just don’t care…They are only in it for the paycheck,” he said.
Most of all, he complained that few – if any – candidates running today offer any innovative ideas for materially improving life here in South Louisiana.
The irony comes from the fact that many concepts exist which would cost little or no money, hardly impact the state or city treasuries, and would make life just a bit easier or better in the New Orleans area. Among the many, there are:
1. The Earhart Expressway, that begins and ends unconnected to any other major road and bifurcates a historically Black neighborhood, has a secret exit at the Orleans Parish line which nearly connects to I-10. A legislative act could bring that road into commerce, providing an additional exit at the Orleans Parish line that would increase traffic flow and decrease the impact of cars lining up at the Carrollton Avenue light. It would require negotiating with the Kansas City Southern railroad company that has usufruct of a feeder track crossing intersecting the road. The crossing, rarely occupied by trains, leads to an underused wharf on the Mississippi River.
2. A riverfront park in front of RiverGarden. From the downtown entrance of the Clarence Henry Truckway to the old Jackson Ave. ferry terminal rests an unused wharf by the Port of New Orleans. Convert the old wharf into parkland to be used by families in the nearby area and use the old Jackson Ave. ferry crossing for safe access to the park. It could resemble Crescent Park in the Marigny/Bywater. It’s not a new concept. Over a decade ago, a group of concerned citizens approached the Dock Board about releasing the property for a riverfront park to accommodate RiverGarden, the Irish Channel and the Lower Garden District residents.
The Port of New Orleans said “no” because of Eminent Domain of the property that has been underwater since the Nineteenth Century. The excuse could be overcome by a simple legislative act
3. Attract billionaires by eliminating income taxes for anyone who pays more than $30,000 in state income taxes as well as for anyone over the age of 75.
There has been a great deal of discussion lately about ending the Louisiana State Income Tax. After all, Texas to our west and Florida to our east both choose not to levy such a tax, and rich Louisianans too often re-domicile in order to avoid paying taxes on their highest earnings. They consequently pay far higher property taxes, yet that cost amounts to a pittance compared to what they correspondingly save. Louisiana earns nothing in taxes as a result.
Incentivize those locally-born millionaires-to-billionaires to return in a fashion that costs the state treasury nothing – and draw new wealthy residents at the same time. Collections data clearly shows that the state Treasury does not collect more than $29,500 from any single Louisiana taxpayer, and very few pay even that. So cap the amount owed under the 4.25 percent income tax at a maximum of $30,000 paid. Then issue an invitation to former wealthy Louisianans to come home. At least, the state would have a chance at collecting at least $30,000 per person, not to mention increased property and sales taxes. However, it would send a message to the business world that Louisiana is as pro-wealth as her neighbors, yet innovative and fiscally responsible at the same time.
Likewise, very few Louisianans above the age of 75 pay any state income taxes. Most of their earnings come from pensions, capital gains and dividends. Eliminating the state income tax for any over the age of 75 would carry almost no fiscal impact, and would stand as a first step in discussing gradually lowering the exemption to 60 in future years, something that would be expensive, but worth exploring.
4. Allow the age at which Louisianans can attend state colleges and universities for free to fall from 55 to 40.
Some know that senior citizens can attend Louisiana universities for free. Most do not actually understand the law for free tuition begins at the age of 55. Few avail themselves of the opportunity.
At the same time, demographics and cultural changes have driven Louisiana university en-rollment rates down by nine percent overall. There is an opportunity to fill these slots at no extra cost to the state by allowing those over the age of 40 to seek job retraining or university degrees.
A tuition waiver for these individuals would put Louisiana at the forefront of adult reeducation programs, allowing countless parents to go back to school in an economy where a few will work the same job for their entire lives.
Allowing community colleges and universities to admit 40-54 year olds could create an entirely new labor pool in the next five years. Most importantly, what would provide a better example for children than parents going back to school about the same time their kids are planning on starting college?
5. Allow neighborhoods to levy a property tax on themselves to repair roads in their own neighborhoods.
Considered highly controversial this would cost neither the state nor city treasuries a penny. In fact, it would drastically increase the available revenues for street construction.
If neighborhoods can levy a property millage on their homeowners for taxes for added security or their local park or for quality-of-life programs like after-school, dance or sports programs, should they not have that some power to repair potholes?
Where the concept becomes controversial deals with an added incentive. If a neighborhood area votes in favor of a property millage to repair the roads in their neighborhood (usually a 20-50 square block area), their increased tax revenues should be matched dollar for dollar by the city or parish out of the existing road repair budget. Moreover, their neighborhood should be moved to the front of the road repair list. In other words, by a neighborhood offering to pay extra, the parish or city governments should meet them halfway. It is the only method to raise enough infrastructure dollars to repair our collapsing streets in Greater New Orleans.
Poverty advocates argue that this would leave just rich, often Caucasian neighborhoods with better roads, yet a look at the proliferation of security districts in the last two decades presents a different tale. Elections to levy an extra neighborhood millage for added police protection were done with the explicit promise that regular police patrols would not be correspondingly decreased. True, at first, wealthy neighborhoods became the first to embrace the extra tax. However, across Louisiana, middle class and poorer areas, underserved by police, have become the most enthusiastic to embrace funding security districts. For voters skeptical that they will ever see a positive result in voting for a new tax, keeping the money close to home to fix the streets, and promising them that the money budgeted will not be robbed from them, is the only viable way to get people to vote for another tax.
This article originally published in the December 19, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
