By KEVIN CHIRI

Editor and Publisher

LAPLACE – If the organizers of the effort to incorporate the town of Garyville thought they might slip under the radar with their attempts to form a municipality, they might want to think again.

St. John Parish President Bill Hubbard said he had been waiting to make any formal statements on the incorporation efforts until the group actually secured the signatures needed to submit their request to the governor.

But now that the group has done just that, with Governor Bobby Jindal currently reviewing their application to send the issue to the ballot box, Hubbard believes it is time to have his say on the matter.

And so far, the parish president doesn’t have a lot of positive things to say about the idea of incorporating the little town.

“If you want to know what the feeling is about this whole thing, let me tell you about a visit I made to Ned’s Grocery Store in Garyville this morning. As soon as I started walking up there, the guys started telling me to please help them, and asked if I was going to fight for them to stop this thing,” Hubbard said.

The newly-elected St. John leader said he is concerned about the Garyville group’s efforts so far since he believes they had given out misleading information to the constituency in that area, mainly in terms of financing options. And the parish plans an education campaign of its own to inform the citizens about all the facts, he added.

While the group’s own website says “lots of new revenue sources will become available to us once we’re incorporated,” Hubbard disagrees.

“They keep saying they believe they will get a share of the industry taxes, but the state law is very clear and says they cannot include the industry already established there in their plans,” he said. “That would leave them with only what we figure to be about $133,000 in revenue if they pass the 7 mills. That’s hardly enough to run a town on.”

Garyville Incorporation Chair Geri Baloney says the group would have the right to add a 1 cent sales tax to any business, and they would be allowed to levy a 7 mill tax on homeowners immediately, without voter approval, if they become incorporated. Those taxes, she agrees, would be new ones for the Garyville residents.

But otherwise, Baloney said she not only believes they will receive a portion of taxes from industry, but many other revenue sources.

“We disagree with the parish’s position that we won’t get any of the industry taxes. But this is not about industry,” she said. “We believe there is revenue to be had from occupancy taxes, franchise fees, grants, tobacco taxes and more.”

Hubbard said the parish plans to educate the public as they see the issues, using advertising through various means so parish voters understand the effects of incorporation.

“We will advertise in the local paper, TV and through direct mail,” he said. “But I don’t plan on going to any public hearings since I think they could just get crazy. We will just lay out the facts in some material that we make sure gets to all the voters.”

The parish researched the matter of revenue sources and found out that state law says no incorporation can include an established industry in that area, and therefore, could not draw any of the millions of dollars in tax money coming into the parish from companies such as Marathon or Cargill.

Hubbard says he is not trying to tell the voters of the area what to do, but he opposes the incorporation effort as it is currently drawn up, especially since it also includes a portion of Reserve.

“It is clear they drew their boundaries all the way into Reserve so they could add some tax base,” he said. “That was a greedy move, and it’s clear why they did that.”

Baloney said the decision to go to Reserve was from people in her own committee, who lived there, and asked to be included.

“If the people of Garyville want to form their own town, I’m not saying for them not to vote for it. This is America and they can decide for themselves,” Hubbard said. “But I can tell you for sure that the people in Reserve don’t want to be a part of it, and by including Reserve, that is a big reason I’m personally against this.”

Hubbard, who has gotten out of the gates in less than three months as parish president accomplishing a host of positive projects for the parish, said he is disappointed that not one representative from the group has called to talk to him.

“I’m disappointed no one has yet talked to me about this, and now a lot of things that I planned to do for Garyville won’t get done by the parish. I realize that in the past a lot of promises were made for Garyville and not carried through, but I can guarantee you I will follow through on my promises and now a lot of the plans I had for Garyville won’t happen,” he said.

Hubbard said he has already doubled the crews to begin cutting grass there, has increased ditch cleaning that would have continued, had plans to make a Garyville historic district with antique lights and period decorations, planned to obtain grants to add to the historic preservation of Garyville, and had plans to do a kids park by the library. But should the incorporation go through, all of that will then be the responsibility of the new government.

“I would have liked to have shown Garyville the things the parish had planned for it,” he said, noting the emergency sewer repair he already authorized in one area of the town for over $500,000. “But now it will be hard for them to do anything with such a small budget as they will have.”

Baloney said she is baffled by Hubbard’s statement about no contact from the group since “I talked with Mr. Hubbard at the sugar refinery ground breaking and we agreed that we would get together soon and talk.”