Tuesday residents living in the unincorporated parts of Iberia Parish will either vote for or against a new sales tax that would be decided to road maintenance. 

The proposed 3/4 cent tax increase would be dedicated to rural road improvements. If passed, that tax would draw $3.5 million dollars annually from the parish. “I cannot ask someone to vote for a tax, or not to vote for a tax. This is a proposition that is going to be out there, it’s a sales tax for 10 years only for the unincorporated areas of Iberia Parish,” says Parish President Larry Richard. 

Richard says 38 miles of road would be repaired if this tax would pass. “We are trying to bring more businesses and keep the business as we have. We are trying to keep the residents we have, and we want to bring more residents and more rooftops here.  In order to do that you must have good infrastructure.”

The parish has already made three priority lists worth of roads that need repairs. Daspit Road  in New Iberia is number one on the first list. It’s over six miles long and residents say it’s in desperate need of repairs. 

“There’s a lot of holes, potholes and a lot of the road is uneven,” says Gisale Dempsey. She is the bookkeeper for the Daspit Supermarket on Daspit road.

Dempsey says if the people vote for the tax, the parish needs to fix the road properly. She says, “They need to cement the road instead of black-topping it, because when the trucks come by, it’s back to square one with the potholes.”

“It’s just as simple as giving the people of Iberia Parish the opportunity to vote on this if they want it, and if they don’t want it, we are going to continue to do things the way we are doing them,” says Richard.

If the tax is approved by voters, Richard says these projects will go out for bid in January. Currently, road repairs are paid for through the parish’s royalty fund.