Mayor Presses for Clear Plan in Negotiating Transition of Services to City of St. George

BATON ROUGE, LA - August 13, 2024 - Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome is committed in ongoing collaboration with representatives of the City of St. George to provide for a smooth transition for the provision of essential governmental services and remittance of tax collections from the City Parish to the St. George Transition District, and ultimately to the City of St. George.

In furtherance of that effort, the Mayor-President today provided the attached letter to Mayor Dustin Yates of the City of St. George and Drew Murrell, Chairman of the City of St. George Transition District, outlining some of the key issues on which the two governments must come together to accomplish this transition.

"We want to do our very best to ensure that, during this transition, none of our East Baton Rouge Parish residents experience a disruption in essential services," said Mayor Broome. "This letter outlines the very real immediate challenges that the City-Parish is working through, some needing urgent attention from the City of St. George, in order for us to accomplish our common goal of a working, effective government at both the city and parish level."

The letter outlines key questions facing the transition, including:

• the importance of reaching an agreed-upon, legally approved incorporation date and map of the new City of St. George
• concerns about the timing, manner and process for the passage of the Transition District's proposed new 2% sales tax
• concerns about the details within a proposed 2024 budget submitted for presentation this week to the St. George Council
• a critically important, ongoing request by the City-Parish for a list of the specific services the City of St. George wishes for the City-Parish to continue to provide and the period of time for which the City of St. George wishes the services to be provided

"It is the strong desire of my office and our dedicated City-Parish staff to make this transition as smooth as possible," Mayor Broome said, "so it is essential that the Transition District and the City of St. George respond to these very practical requests. We want to address these substantive issues timely in the interest of all of our parish, and I am urging us all to work together in accomplishing this. I look forward to follow-up meetings with representatives of St. George.