SHREVEPORT, La. — Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux is rethinking how the city tackles its growing problem of abandoned and unsafe properties after withdrawing a proposal to add a temporary 2% surcharge to water bills. The plan, which would have raised about $3 million over the course of 18 months, aimed to fund the demolition of select blighted buildings across the city.
“That was actually designed for some particular properties that we know we would like to tear down,” Arceneaux said. “But we do not have the resources within the general fund to do that without dipping into the operating reserve, which is a really bad idea. So we’re going to be looking for other sources of revenue — or maybe other ways to provide the labor and materials to do that.”
The proposed surcharge would have added roughly $26 a year to the average ratepayer’s bill. But even with that funding, it would have addressed only a fraction of the city’s demolition needs…