Voters in East Baton Rouge Parish will decide on Nov. 21 whether or not the City of Central is added to a revenue sharing arrangement that currently benefits Baton Rouge, Baker and Zachary.
The Metro Council on Wednesday evening OK’d placing the measure on the ballot. At issue is about $1.5 million in revenue that comes from industrial properties. The revenue traditionally has been split among three of the parish’s four municipalities, according to population, with Baton Rouge receiving about 90%, and Zachary and Baker getting about 5% each.
If it is approved by voters in the parish, Central stands to gain about $143,870 for the 2016 budget year, according to city-parish Department of Finance estimates. With Central added to the plan, Baton Rouge’s share of the revenue would fall to about 80%, while Zachary and Baker would see their cuts reduced less significantly and still get about 5% each. Central would get a nearly 10% share of the funds, as—at roughly 26,850 residents—it is larger than Zachary (14,960) or Baker (13,895).
Also Wednesday, the Metro Council deferred for 30 days a measure to fix the salary of the next mayor of Baton Rouge at $157,000, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Mayor Kip Holden—who is term-limited and is running for lieutenant governor—is set to earn $152,317 this year.
The council took no action on a resolution allowing City Court judges to begin imposing a new $5 technology fee in criminal, traffic and civil cases, with the money funding the purchase and maintenance of a new case management system.
