Creswell Tax Increase Moves Forward

Creswell Tax Increase Moves Forward

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

Gretchen Erlingson asked two questions, but she received no answer for each of them.

Erlingson asked members of the Opelousas Downtown Development District on Friday morning what projects are planned and how much revenue will be received if the ODD is successful in adopting an ordinance that expands the district boundaries in order for major retailers to collect an additional 1-cent sales tax on Creswell Lane.

However Erlingson, an official with Opelousas Main Street, had her questions met with silence before the ODD voted to introduce the ordinance which will receive further consideration during the next two months.

ODD board member Pat Fontenot abstained during the introduction vote. Donald D’Avy, Ogden Pitre, Rob Hilliard, Stephen Daste and chairperson Lena Charles voted “yes.” Board member Sarah Branton was absent.

During the next 60 days, the proposed ordinance will possibly receive further discussion. 

The final vote on the issue is scheduled to follow an official journal advertisement and public hearing before the potential adoption of the ordinance now scheduled October 23, according to Cate Creed, a New Orleans attorney who is handling the process for ODD.

So far the ODD has not provided the public with a projected map of the new district boundaries. St. Landry Now.com contacted Creed on Friday about providing a boundary extension map to the online newspaper in order to provide more transparency.

No district expansion map was available during the ODD meeting on Friday morning.

ODD members also did not indicate when the sales tax might become effective.

In an interview with ODD chairperson Lena Charles after the July meeting, Charles indicated to St. Landry Now.com that the extra 1-cent sales tax would be used to provide more revenue for future downtown catalyst projects and help fund the retirement of a $5 million, 10-year revenue bond the ODD approved in 2024 in order to help fund the Donald Gardner Stadium project.

The possible Creswell Lane addition to the District, if approved, will be added to the area that the ODD currently uses to collect the extra 1-cent at stores located in the south part of the city.

Daste, the ODD treasurer, said the District received $132,767 in June from the current extra 1-cent collections.

Opelousas resident Stephen Picou, who attended the meeting, said the sales tax increases in taxing districts are making the city more expensive to buy retail items than Carencro or Lafayette.

The extra 1-cent charge, Picou said, will add an extra financial burden for some Opelousas residents already struggling with annual income levels.

An extra penny sales tax, Picou added, would probably be used to help cover the costs for the stadium.

“If that is true, then that is wrong,” Picou said.

During an ODD board members comment segment at the end of the Friday meeting, Fontenot said the District has enough funding to continue paying its bonded share for Phase 1 of the stadium project which was completed in October, 2025.

“Everything (the ODD)is doing is for the city. We are doing what the state has commissioned us to do,” Fontenot said.

Fontenot also said he feels the District is spending the sales tax revenues prudently.

“We are good stewards. We are doing some positive things for the community. That we are doing this (expanding the district) to help with the stadium is just bull. We are not going to put this body in any kind of debt,” Fontenot said.