The election held this Saturday (April 29) is extremely important to the voters’ future of St. John Parish.

The runoff election to fill the unexpired District 7 term of Buddy Boe is on the ballot, with the parish’s proposition for levee protection match and maintenance funding.

St. John Parish is proposing a 7 mill increase in property taxes to help pay for a $718 million hurricane/flood protection levee, stretching 18 miles from the Bonnet Carre Spillway to Mt. Airy.

Hurricanes Isaac, Gustav and Ike fully exposed our vulnerability to flooding and tidal surges, and The Great Flood of 2016 threatened homes and businesses.

After more than 40 years of study, the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Risk Reduction Project received Congressional authorization to move forward in December of 2016.

The total estimated cost for the levee is $718 million, and St. John Parish has a cost share of $50 million, which is required to receive federal funding.

The annual maintenance cost is estimated to cost the parish an additional $5 million a year.

The estimated cost per month for homes valued from $100,000 to $300,000 is $1.50 to $13.12. Homes valued from $400,000 to $1,000,000 will cost an additional $18.95 to $53.95 more per month.

It is imperative that we have a funding source to receive federal funds to begin construction.

These funds would be dedicated and could only be used for levee maintenance and match. This cost is too burdensome for the Parish’s regular annual operating budget, which is mostly compromised of already dedicated funds.

When a tax is dedicated, it that can legally only be used for that specific dedicated purpose. If the tax passes, the parish will have the ability to look at other dedicated funding sources to possibly roll back millages to minimize the difference.

It is important that you vote on building a levee to protect lives, property, businesses, schools and vital evacuation routes.

We encourage everyone to get out and vote.

Saturday (April 29) is also our 2017 Annual Spring Clean Sweep.

We encourage all residents and businesses to form teams and clean areas throughout our parish.

Residents are asked to meet at the U.S. 51 Park at 8:30 a.m. to pick up supplies, and we will disperse from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

At 11:30 a.m. all will return to the park, where we will have music and refreshments.

This is a great community event; we hope to see you Saturday.

Michael P. Wright is St. John the Baptist Parish Council District 5 representative and Council vice chairman. Contact him at District5@sjbparish.com or m.wright@sjbparish.com.