The controversy between the two groups charged with representing the best interests of local residents centers around the formation of economic development districts, also known as tax increment financing (TIF) districts.
Both groups established TIF districts in their respective boundaries, but neither group approached the other about the issue until the other was far into its process. The result was a series of one-sided discussions and votes, and it has to have Iberia Parish residents wondering how these people represent the same basic group.
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Combine the fact there was no prior public inkling of the resolution with the fact no representative from the Iberia Parish Council was at the City Council meeting and we have a case of the seven-person New Iberia City Council dictating a one-sided conversation to the 14-person Iberia Parish Council.
The Iberia Parish Council met the next day, Oct. 7, and had TIF district discussion listed on its agenda. At this meeting, multiple representatives from the city were on hand to finally have some honest-to-goodness give and take on the various TIF concerns.
Iberia Parish Council members, seeing their counterparts in the audience, instead voted to table the issue because of a publication requirement. Not a single word, question or thought was exchanged at the meeting and the public was left in the lurch as their elected officials failed to broach the already contentious issue in the public arena.
Fast forward one week to Wednesday’s Parish Council meeting. TIF district establishment is again on the table. Representatives from the New Iberia City Council are again on hand.
It is assumed fair, public discussion will have its moment in the sun.
Nope.
The Iberia Parish Council votes 13-0 (one member was absent) to establish a TIF district that overlaps two already created by the New Iberia City Council. The unanimous vote is a slap in the face of a 7-0 backed resolution from the city asking the parish not to do this.
At this point, even the Hatfields and the McCoys are blushing.
Yes there was finally some give and take from the two sides at the meeting, but it was far too late to serve any purpose. Minds already were made up. How else can a Parish Council whose members can’t even agree 100 percent if they deserve a pay raise be in such solid agreement if everyone came into the meeting with an open mind?
Unfortunately, the city did not help itself at the meeting either. City Attorney Ted Haik sent a six-page letter to Iberia Parish President Ernest Freyou and the Parish Council a few hours before the Parish Council meeting, making a “formal demand” for the Parish Council to forgo a vote on the district.
Weeks of build-up and the six pages of legal backing comes only hours before the final vote? How can that be the best strategy for success?
City officials are concerned the parish’s district will use sales tax money generated within the city to fund improvements in unincorporated areas of the parish. They even threatened to take the issue to court.
Parish Council members want the city included because of the overall progress the district could bring to the area. Council members argued parish residents bring sales tax dollars into the city, and businesses that build in New Iberia because of the district would generate city revenue through its existing sales taxes.
So here we have a Parish Council, with a majority of its members representing at least a portion of New Iberia, and the New Iberia City Council 100 percent against each other. Somehow, this does not strike me as representing the best interests of local residents.
STEPHEN HEMELT is city editor of The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at stephen.hemelt@daily-iberian.com.
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