Hijacking Voter Rights

Letter to Editor Jennings Daily News
Taxing for Tourism (Hijacking voter rights follow up)

Editor,

In an article in the Jennings Daily News , on Thursday April 15, 2004, titled "Jennings City Council approves sale of surplus city property", a statement was included that should have generated questions from the public.

The statement read, "In other matters, the(Jennings) council: Adopted a resolution to support the Jeff Davis Parish Tourist Commission to incorporate all of the parish in order to be able to receive hotel/motel taxes, should such facilities be built outside of Jennings in the future."

This statement, of less than 40 words, went by unassumingly, without any fanfare. After some research on the subject, I drafted an email and sent it to state representatives and others involved. A copy of that letter can be read at www.jeffdavisparish.com.

What is being attempted is a "minor" change to RS 33:4574.1a(O). This statute authorizes a hotel/motel tax of 2% in Ward 2 of Jefferson Davis Parish, to fund "Tourism". The proposed "wording" change is to include "all territories of Jeff Davis Parish".

At the present there aren’t many hotels/motels located outside of Jennings anyway, so most voters really don’t care. In my opinion this is not just a tax on hotels/motels not built yet. There are others providing overnight facilities they want to include with the existing tax.

Through correspondence, I learned there was never any intent to present this to voters. The tourist commission is proposing the change to all political subdivisions and excluding voters. This proposal attempts to hi-jack voter rights by expanding the tax base without voter approval.

The proposed wording change appears to be in conflict with RS4574:13 and 4574.1, based on what I am reading. The statutes clearly state "The board of Commissioners shall impose the tax by ordinance, but only after such tax is approved by a majority in number of the qualified electors of the parish voting on the proposition at an election held for that purpose". That has happened in Ward 2 but nowhere else in Jeff Davis Parish.

Based on the statutes the hotel/motel tax includes overnight campgrounds, bed & breakfast inns, RV parks and other overnight facilities that fall under the definitions outlined in the statutes. In my opinion, this is at the epicenter of what tax money they’re really after. While we think it’s a just a hotel/motel tax….it’s not! I respect the need to expand the tax base, to support the important efforts of the tourist commission, but I think we need to present this to the voters of the parish.

The tourist commission is presently soliciting opinions from political subdivisions in the parish, asking for support on this idea. The Jennings City Council has already blessed off on this proposed change. If they have support from the political subdivisions in the parish they will make this simple word change, without our input. This is already in the works.

We cannot continue to allow our elected officials and others to hi-jack voter rights, through "back office negotiations", for the purpose of making "simple" changes to laws that expand the tax base at the exclusion of the voters.

We cannot continue to blindly tax the futures of our children. We need to speak up when there are attempts to expand the tax base without voter approval. We need to pay closer attention to the propositions and the impact they will have. We need to start asking simple questions. How much? How long? Who does it affect? Representatives statewide are introducing legislation, and revising laws, that effects everyone of us, and they do so from pressure from the special interest groups or because of their "own opinion" on a particular subject. They are supposed to be introducing legislation and voting, in part, based on feedback from the people who elected them. Our voices are being drowned out by big money politics, so we remain silent. Our Representatives and political subdivisions are easier to reach, now, more than ever through the internet and email. We are still silent.

As voters, we need to insist, on clear wording on tax proposals, with 5, 10 or 15 year terms, before renewal rather than permanent taxes. By that time, our children can decide for themselves on whether to renew them. All too often we pass a tax, then wording or definitions are changed and the tax we end up with, doesn’t resemble the one we passed.

A hotel/motel tax is not what the name implies, so anyone providing any kind of overnight facility should be on the look out. I’m no lawyer, so if I am wrong in my assessment, I would like someone to point me to the statute that makes these "after passage" changes constitutional. If such a law exists, it needs to be changed. The power in government is suppose to reside in the voice of the people.

Whether you support the hotel/motel tax is not the issue here. The issue is your right to vote on it. Your vote may not impact you directly, so initially you may not care, but it could impact your friends, family, your employer, and the quality of life for your children in the future. In every election, our vote is critical. Our vote and the votes of others will determine what will be handed off to our children. Every election is important. Our vote is so important that…. certain individuals and special interest groups are actively trying to hi-jack our right to even cast it.

Joe Semmes

19400 Hwy 26

Jennings, Louisiana
70546

337.824.1481

jsemmes@jeffdavisparish.com