The East Baton Rouge Metro Council is set to consider a proposed intergovernmental agreement between Baton Rouge and St. George at its meeting Wednesday.
The long-awaited deal would lay the groundwork for how the transfer of tax revenue and the oversight of core city services might be handled in the months and years ahead.
Newly elected St. George City Council member Andrew Murrell tells Daily Report that the agreement would provide St. George with crucial startup funding and pave the way for future negotiations over more complex matters.
“It gives us an infusion of capital so we can start providing services on a larger scale,” Murrell says, “and it also gets us to a point where we can start to work on the bigger agreement, which is assets and liabilities, transfer of roadways, drainage and some of the bigger items that we just haven’t had an opportunity to address yet.”
If the proposal comes to fruition, a schedule for sharing sales and use tax revenue between Baton Rouge and St. George would be established:
- From April 26, 2024—the date the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that St. George could incorporate—through June 30, 2024, Baton Rouge would retain 100% of the parish sales and use tax collected within St. George’s boundaries.
- From July 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2024, the city-parish would remit to St. George $1.25 million per month—a total of $7.5 million over the six months.
- From Jan. 1, 2025, through May 31, 2025, the city-parish would remit to St. George $1.5 million per month—a total of $7.5 million over the five months.
- For June 2025, the city-parish would remit to St. George $2 million.
- Beginning July 1, 2025, the city-parish would remit to St. George 100% of the parish sales and use tax collected within St. George’s boundaries.
July 1 is also the date that St. George would assume responsibility for nearly all core city services, with the exceptions being alcohol permitting and animal control. Both of those services would continue to be handled by the city-parish through Dec. 31, at which point St. George would be able to take them over or contract them back to the city-parish.
Falon Brown, director of communications for the office of Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards, says the July 1 date was mutually agreed upon by Baton Rouge and St. George.
“After many discussions, that was the date that both parties deemed would be best,” she says.
If the Metro Council gives the green light, the agreement would still need to be approved by the St. George City Council and the St. George Transition District to take effect. Murrell says the St. George Transition District will consider the proposal at its own meeting Wednesday.