Lafayette City Council chose not to override Guillory's property tax veto

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — The Lafayette City Council voted Tuesday night not to override the veto of a property tax initiative by Mayor-President Josh Guillory.

In a 3-2 vote, the council chose not to override the veto, but a special meeting will be held Thursday morning to reset the millage rate.

Councilman Kevin Naquin is one of the parish council members in support of imposing property taxes that would generate revenue throughout the parish.

“It’s a lot easier for people to swallow $5, $8 on a $400,000, not a hole, not to mention homes that are tax exempt for $75,000 ain’t going to pay nothing,” said Naquin.

In a 4-1 vote, a $6.61 increase would have been added to an annual property tax bill of a 250,000 home with a homestead exemption, but the property tax was vetoed by Guillory.

Guillory defended his decision to veto the property tax by saying the parish has the necessary funding.

“Our parish is not broke. The bottom line is this veto does not take away funding. The parish of Lafayette has a lot of dedicated millages, has a lot of dedicated funding voted on by the people,” said Guillory.

Once the floor opened to the public, people like Mary Lib Garcia expressed support in overriding Guillory’s veto

“The easiest thing to do right now is exactly what Mr. Rubin says. Vote to override the veto and deal with this,” said Garcia.

Garcia says it’s needed and compares the property tax to the cost of boudin.

“I can tell you that I bought a pack of boudin today, and it costs me $6, and that’s what it’ll cost me for these two mileages,” said Garcia.

Others like Ella Aresment supports the veto and asked the council to support it as well.

“I was going to ask that you do support the mayor-president with the veto, because when you change the millages of the government, you’re taking the voice away from the people,” said Aresment.