Despite a dismal 36% voter turnout October 24, registered voters have another chance to make a difference in the November 18 General Election. In addition to important run-offs for the statewide offices of Secretary of State, Treasurer, and
Attorney General, there are numerous run-offs for other offices such as Police Jurors in Cameron, Sheriff in Jeff Davis and others. There are four constitutional amendments on the ballot. 

Perhaps just as important are several propositions deserving of support. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury has three parish wide issues all of which are renewals of existing taxes. These fund Mosquito Control, Criminal Justice for the District
Attorney and 14 th District Court, and a one-cent sales tax renewal for the Parish Road and Bridge fund. These funds are necessary for basic parish functions. There is also a proposition in the Airport District which includes the City of Lake Charles
as well as a portion of Calcasieu surrounding the airport. This is a small property tax that helps us keep air service at Lake Charles Regional. Wards Three and Eight in the parish vote on a maintenance tax renewal for waterworks facilities within
the district. 

There are two issues on the November 18 ballot for City of Lake Charles voters. It’s call L C Rebound. As developed by Mayor Nic Hunter and the Lake Charles City Council, this program takes existing city sales taxes and renews them so that the
revenue can be bonded out to facilitate dozens of needed projects. This propostion is revenue neutral, meaning no increase in taxes. Your vote will take the current two and half cent sales tax and put them into two votes. The first vote will place two cents in perpetuity and the remaining one half cent tax will renew for 25 years.

The city has conducted forums about this proposal in each council district and details are on the city website at cityoflakecharles.com/LCRebound. The Alliance has advocated for many of these projects thru the years. They include projects in the Calcasieu Parish Long-term recovery plan and in the Community Foundation’s Just Image SWLA 50-year plan. 

The previous bond issue after Hurricane Rita enabled lakefront and downtown improvement. LC Rebound will expand the scope and touch every ward in the city. The projects will improve aesthetics of the city, invest in roads and other
hard infrastructure, enhance quality of life and support family-friendly / fun activities. In all these improvements will spark economic growth and diversity and increase tourism.

If you are tired of visiting other communities and saying, “ why don’t we have that here?” or “why don’t we improve our area?” then LC Rebound is the opportunity we have waited for. 

The Board of Directors of The Chamber SWLA has endorsed the tax renewals by Calcasieu Parish and LC Rebound. We believe these investments will bring a great return on your tax dollars.

Early voting is available today thru Saturday November 11, with the exception of November 10, which is the Veteran’s Day Holiday. Or you can vote Saturday November 18. As we honor our veterans, remember thousands of lives have
been given in the history of this country so we can remain free and vote as we choose. The least we can do to honor those who died for our freedom is to vote. With early voting there is really no excuse. 

Some projections are for less than a twenty percent turnout. If there is a twenty percent turnout and a candidate is elected with sixty percent of the vote, that means that about 12% of the people are electing our officials and passing ballot measures.

Let’s kick up the turnout as we return to the polls for these important issues.