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Thread: Road taxes in Louisiana

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    Road taxes in Louisiana

    Recent trips on Arkansas and Texas roads continue to disappoint me when it comes to our roads in Louisiana.
    Our most event gas tax was hijacked by the Legislature to pay all DOTD salaries and retirement benefits and some road construction.
    Arkansas just passed a half-cent SALES tax for roads and there’s new construction everywhere.
    Speaking of Texas, our DOTD has more employees than Texas Highway employees. Feel free to correct me, DeeWayne or others in government.
    Louisiana Tech University
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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Texas has approx. 13,000. Louisiana has approx. 4,000.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    We have lots of lovely toll roads here in Texas.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Guisslapp View Post
    We have lots of lovely toll roads here in Texas.
    Great conservative leadership in Texas unlike Louisiana.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Dawgpix View Post
    Our most event gas tax was hijacked by the Legislature to pay all DOTD salaries and retirement benefits and some road construction.
    .
    Pensions...Unfunded accrued liability....

    Not knocking any State worker, but the pension system is a mess, with no easy fix.

    I’m certainly not knocking any State employees, lots of good ones. But it wasn’t THAT long ago that manyprofessional positions in State gov’t meant a taking a so-so salary, but getting an excellent retirement.

    Now salaries have been raised (for some...), but the pension structure remains the same. Some good ol boy shit, in a way. But makes me rethink that State job 15 years ago...

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by TYLERTECHSAS View Post
    Great conservative leadership in Texas unlike Louisiana.
    Can you name me one ‘liberal’ thing John Bel Edwards has done as governor? Don’t use google or Facebook, and no help from the class on this one.

    Can you name one piece of legislation that he signed or one that he vetoed that would not be considered typically conservative?

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Road taxes? I can speak to Natchitoches Parish's situation. The parish has one dedicated ad valorem tax for roads, all outside the city limits. It's called "District 40" and only those properties outside the city limits are taxed and all monies collected have to be spent outside of the city. But we have 900 miles of road, roughly 50-50 between gravel and blacktop, and there is nowhere near enough revenue from the District 40 tax to even begin maintaining the parish roads.

    A good portion, probably well over 50% of the properties in the parish are exempt from any taxes due to the $75,000 homestead exemption. Add in properties zoned as agriculture or timberlands, with much lower assessments and not very much in property tax is collected from District 40. Oh, residents out there gripe a lot about the lousy roads but just mention the tax situation and they want to tar and feather you.

    Inside the city limits, there is a relatively much higher tax collected dedicated to city streets. Of which there is about 80 miles of streets. Property values inside the city...location, location, location...are much higher thus more ad valorem tax is collected.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Dawgpix View Post
    Recent trips on Arkansas and Texas roads continue to disappoint me when it comes to our roads in Louisiana.
    Our most event gas tax was hijacked by the Legislature to pay all DOTD salaries and retirement benefits and some road construction.
    Arkansas just passed a half-cent SALES tax for roads and there’s new construction everywhere.
    Speaking of Texas, our DOTD has more employees than Texas Highway employees. Feel free to correct me, DeeWayne or others in government.
    Don't get me started on DOTD after this past week -

    Most corrupt, inefficient, half-assed, nose picking, booger eating, lazy bunch of SOB's in our sorry state government

    And that's being kind
    ''Don't be a bad dagh..."

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Dwayne From Minden View Post
    Don't get me started on DOTD after this past week -

    Most corrupt, inefficient, half-assed, nose picking, booger eating, lazy bunch of SOB's in our sorry state government

    And that's being kind
    Don't pull punches, tell us what you really think about the DOTD.


  10. #10
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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by turbodawg View Post
    Can you name me one ‘liberal’ thing John Bel Edwards has done as governor? Don’t use google or Facebook, and no help from the class on this one. Can you name one piece of legislation that he signed or one that he vetoed that would not be considered typically conservative?
    There is one that stands out (I'll be the one in the class that lends a hand)

    He took the ObamaCare deal in exchange for Medicaid dollars. It provides healthcare coverage for a lot of working poor in Louisiana. The problem is down the line when the federal dollars run out, which is part of the deal. Where is Louisiana going to get the money when that happens?

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by The Historian View Post
    There is one that stands out (I'll be the one in the class that lends a hand)

    He took the ObamaCare deal in exchange for Medicaid dollars. It provides healthcare coverage for a lot of working poor in Louisiana. The problem is down the line when the federal dollars run out, which is part of the deal. Where is Louisiana going to get the money when that happens?
    JBE sold the soul of the state for additional "federal" dollars as well, in other programs. Jindal refused to do so. Now, while I can agree that governors(states) should be as independent as possible, and that most programs (like public education) should be in the hands of the states, not DC, at times you have to play the game, until such times as the rules are changed. In Jindal's case he took Louisiana independent during a time of national economic collapse, followed by the worst period in our history: the obummer years. Jindal's plan would have worked great during the first three years of Trump. But with the China virus economic collapse, any governor should have been opened to accepting more in the way of federal assistance. I don't think Jindal, had he been governor now, would have turned to the feds for some help.

    Other states, like Kansas, also took the independent route back in 2008 or so, at the worst possible time. Again, until the rules change...and that probably won't happen in our lifetimes...states have to belly up to the federal trough at times.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Dawgpix View Post
    Recent trips on Arkansas and Texas roads continue to disappoint me when it comes to our roads in Louisiana.
    Our most event gas tax was hijacked by the Legislature to pay all DOTD salaries and retirement benefits and some road construction.
    Arkansas just passed a half-cent SALES tax for roads and there’s new construction everywhere.
    Speaking of Texas, our DOTD has more employees than Texas Highway employees. Feel free to correct me, DeeWayne or others in government.
    This goes back to where the gas tax money in Louisiana is spent.

    Origins of the gas tax

    It was passed during the Roemer administration. And over the next 15 years or so there was a lot of road construction in the state. Then in Mike Foster's second term those dollars began to be siphoned off to prop up other parts of the state budget, including Higher Ed, mainly because there is no stable funding source for large parts of the state budget. That meant much less in huge federal matching dollars for roads (the majority of funds for those projects).


    Stelly Plan passage and failure

    Then when the Stelly plan passed (including a state-wide vote of the people), Kathleen Blanco used those extra dollars along with Katrina dollars to bloat the state government. In 2008 some of those extra dollars went to one-time uses. The problem came when those dollars ran out. At the same time the Stelly Plan was so unpopular because of how it was used that the legislature killed it in Jindall's first term.

    So where did the state go to close the gap when all that revenue dried up? The state's Rainy Day fund was tapped. Cuts to places like Higher Ed (which were made up with higher fees and tuition), along with - you guessed it - more gas tax money!!!!

    Gas tax siphon limits and BP money

    Then Several years ago the legislature passed a bill that would limit the amount of the gas tax that could be siphoned off to 50% (LSU fought this to the very end). That, along with BP money that came through last year, is going to lead to a lot more road construction and improvements over the next 10 years.

    The problem for most of the state is that there are big ticket items that have to be addressed that will take up big money. The I-10 bridge in Lake Charles has to be replaced. The by-pass bridge south of Baton Rouge has to be built along with the interstate leading up to it. I-10 issues in Baton Rouge have to be addressed, as well.

    Infrastructure bill hopes

    The big hope in that area is that if Trump were to win the election you'll see an infrastructure bill that will likely address those big ticket issues. It's probably the only hope in that area over the next 50 years. There is no way a Biden administration (or any democrat administration) could get that type of bill through the Senate. It wouldn't get 60 votes.

    And when is the next time you'll see a populist Republican who would support that type of spending? Not in our lifetimes.

  13. #13
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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by The Historian View Post
    There is one that stands out (I'll be the one in the class that lends a hand)

    He took the ObamaCare deal in exchange for Medicaid dollars. It provides healthcare coverage for a lot of working poor in Louisiana. The problem is down the line when the federal dollars run out, which is part of the deal. Where is Louisiana going to get the money when that happens?
    Honest to goodness, that is the absolute only thing I could come up with myself. Medicaid expansion is a very sticky wicket. It’s paid real and substantial benefits in the short term. Especially recently, and I have seen examples of working *people* benefit who would be SOL otherwise.

    Long term, it’s a hedge. But it’s not particularly liberal

    I’ll give you a pass for lending a hand in class. If Tyler can come with one thing else, he owes you milk money.

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by Dwayne From Minden View Post
    Don't get me started on DOTD after this past week -

    Most corrupt, inefficient, half-assed, nose picking, booger eating, lazy bunch of SOB's in our sorry state government

    And that's being kind
    Are those dried air boogers or soft sticky ones? Asking for a friend!
    I'm an asshole! What's your excuse?

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    Re: Road taxes in Louisiana

    Quote Originally Posted by turbodawg View Post
    Pensions...Unfunded accrued liability....

    Not knocking any State worker, but the pension system is a mess, with no easy fix.

    I’m certainly not knocking any State employees, lots of good ones. But it wasn’t THAT long ago that manyprofessional positions in State gov’t meant a taking a so-so salary, but getting an excellent retirement.

    Now salaries have been raised (for some...), but the pension structure remains the same. Some good ol boy shit, in a way. But makes me rethink that State job 15 years ago...
    WTH? I agree with you.

    Someone stole Turbo’s keyboard.

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