Louisiana editorial roundup

Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:

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Nov. 15

The Advocate on the money Louisiana spends on litter:

In this year as in others, Louisiana’s leaders are having another debate about how to find more money to fix and maintain the state’s roads and bridges.

With that in mind, a recent item in our “Ask the Advocate” feature seems worth noting. A reader wrote to ask why Baton Rouge, the state’s capital city, is always so littered with trash. The question could just as well have been asked about any other part of Louisiana.

Brendan J. Rush, of the state Department of Transportation and Development, responded with some eye-popping figures.

Last year, the state picked up some 56,000 cubic yards of litter from Louisiana’s roadsides. If placed in 55-gallon drums, then it would fill 205,600 of those containers.

Although the state uses inmate labor to save money on trash details, litter collection still costs state government $7.6 million each year.

“I would also add, oftentimes, within 24 hours areas that were cleaned are re-littered,” Rush said.

That figure doesn’t include the money spent by parish and municipal governments each year to clean up after litterbugs, too. Surely, that sum would be in the millions of dollars as well.

Would all that money, if saved and used for roads and bridges, solve Louisiana’s infrastructure problems? Almost certainly not. But those millions of dollars could do an awful lot of good if they weren’t being spent on cleaning up after numskulls who, in the 21st century, either don’t know or don’t care about keeping trash in their vehicles until it can be dropped into a garbage can.

What’s even sadder is that all those millions being spent on litter pickup aren’t making much of a dent in the problem. Our roadways, by and large, still look trashy - an awful thing for those of us who live here, and a terrible sight for visitors to Louisiana.

It doesn’t have to be this way. “I have traveled to many cities in the United States, and I am always amazed how clean those cities are,” the reader who wrote to “Ask The Advocate” noted.

How do other communities do it? Aggressive enforcement helps, and stiff fines and penalties for offenders. But the real basis for cleaner communities is a critical mass of residents who have enough pride not to muck up the places they call home.

Maybe, in this heated election year, the cause of a cleaner Louisiana is something that voters of all political stripes can agree upon. Having less litter would save tax dollars, encourage private investment, and help the environment.

It would also tell the rest of the world that we really care about the state. If we want visitors to treasure Louisiana, we should show them that we treasure it, too.

Online:

https://www.theadvocate.com

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Nov. 12

The American Press on tax exemption changes in Louisiana:

Louisiana’s industrial tax exemption, which gives large corporations up to a 10-year break on paying local property taxes, is undergoing changes by the Gov. John Bel Edwards administration. Some of the revisions are among recommendations recently released by a task force studying budget and tax reform.

The 80-year-old exemption is good for five years and then a five-year renewal period. The state Board of Commerce and Industry in the past has approved the exemptions with minimum requirements and little oversight. Edwards wants local governments to have a voice in the process since it is their property tax revenues that are lost. Robert Adley, a former state senator and energy operator, is the governor’s representative on Commerce and Industry. He said his boss wants local governments to decide whether they prefer immediate tax dollars or increased economic development benefits.

The task force recommended amending the state constitution to give local governmental authorities a role in granting the exemptions. The amendment would also define policies that favor job growth.

Adley said state government has to spend hundreds of millions annually to subsidize local governments “because we take their money.” It has been estimated the current program forgives an average of $1.4 billion in property taxes annually and will cost local governments about $7 billion over the next five years.

The Advocate reported that Calcasieu and Cameron parishes are among the top 10 parishes for industrial tax exemptions. Government agencies in Cameron Parish have almost $5.3 billion in industrial taxes exempted for 10 years, or $530 million annually. Government agencies in Calcasieu have nearly $2.5 billion in industrial taxes exempted for 10 years, or $250 million per year.

Cameron Parish has been offered an opportunity to decide whether it wants immediate payments in lieu of taxes, but some question whether the process is constitutional. The 12 taxing districts in Cameron 12 have been asked whether they want to start collecting taxes from Cameron LNG now or wait 10 years. Badly needy funds would be immediately available, but the payout would be much larger when the 10 years are up.

The new rules being considered for exemptions by the Edwards administration would make them no longer available for administrative tasks, routine maintenance and required environmental upgrades. Applicants for exemptions would also have to sign cooperative endeavor agreements, which would define the number of jobs created and payroll created and retained.

Industries that meet those requirements would get a five-year, 100 percent local property tax exemption. If they live up to the conditions, they would then get an 80 percent exemption for up to another three years.

Business association officials have asked for more time to work with the proposed changes. However, Edwards would only agree to not challenge renewals and accept applications filed under the old rules by June 24.

The proposed changes in industrial tax exemptions don’t drastically change the process, and they create accountability that hasn’t existed in the past.

Online:

https://www.americanpress.com

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Nov. 16

The Times-Picayune on college costs in Louisiana:

The 51,000 students who qualified for Louisiana’s TOPS scholarship this year are finally finding out how much extra they will have to pay for the spring semester. It has been clear since the Legislature passed a budget with only partial funding in June that families were going to be on the hook for tuition.

Legislators front-loaded the funding to cover most of the tuition costs in the fall semester, leaving a large gap for spring. Their hope was that revenues would grow more than expected and make up the difference. That didn’t happen. Truthfully, it was never likely to happen. If families trusted in lawmakers to come through with more money, they surely are disappointed.

Now the tuition bills are starting to go out. Students with TOPS scholarships - who have had their full tuition covered in the past - will now be responsible for 58 percent of the cost. At LSU that will total $2,172 - plus fees and room and board. For University of New Orleans students, it’s $1,772 for tuition. At Delgado, the number is $935.

Fortunately for UNO students, the university has moved around federal funding and financial aid to cover the gap. But the tuition bills at other schools won’t be easy for every family to cover. Some students may have to sit out for the semester or take out loans. Already, some students have transferred to less expensive schools because of the expected cuts to TOPS.

There is uncertainty about TOPS funding for the future as well. The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance told students not to expect any TOPS funding for summer school in 2017. And funding for the next academic year is an unknown.

“When we leave our kids with more student debt than necessary, we’ve failed them. Going forward, it is my hope that we can restore funding to TOPS because too many students across the state are dependent upon the assistance it offers,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement Tuesday (Nov. 15). He promised that TOPS wouldn’t be cut any further this year even though the state has a midyear deficit of at least $313 million.

The slow tax collections that caused the deficit are continuing, so the revenue gap is likely to keep growing.

Louisiana’s colleges and universities saw their state appropriation cut in half during the eight years Bobby Jindal was governor. As state funding dwindled, the schools have become more reliant on tuition to pay the bills. But the cuts to TOPS could result in fewer students on campus, leading to a drop in tuition revenues.

The spring legislative session “will give us another opportunity to stabilize Louisiana’s budget … and I’m asking the legislature to work with me, so that Louisiana’s students are not left to shoulder the burden of our state’s financial problems,” Gov. Edwards said in his statement.

TOPS had gotten highly expensive since lawmakers approved the program in 1997. It would have taken $300 million to fully fund the program this year, but the Legislature could only come up with $210 million.

Even the reduced TOPS award students will get in the spring is more generous than other states offer, higher education officials point out. But the problem is that families have been used to getting tuition fully covered for students who qualify academically. They haven’t had much time to deal with the sharp rise in their costs.

Students need more certainty about what they can expect going forward. They also are likely to need other tuition assistance and more payment options if TOPS is capped.

Lawmakers tried to have it both ways in this budget. They didn’t fund TOPS fully but wanted to seem as if they might. Now families are left to figure out how to keep their children in school.

Online:

https://www.nola.com