Vermilion Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire

Vermilion Chamber of Commerce Responses Provided from Mayor City of Abbeville Candidates

What is the #1 issue facing Abbeville and what steps would you take to address this issue?

I believe it is impossible rank any single issue as #1. I believe the issues we have all tie into each other. Certainly crime, declining economy and population, aging infrastructure and litter. To fix the issues we need to work on all of them collectively. Vermilion Parish School System has great schools, but the public elementary schools and middle school in the City of Abbeville have poor overall grades and aging substandard facilities. This is at no fault of the teachers or school administrators who go above and beyond for their students. I believe improving Abbeville public schools would help to grow our population. Desirable school systems will attract families into the city. Many businesses “follow rooftops” so growing our population will help grow our economy and the increase in our tax base to reinvest in infrastructure. Better education brings more opportunity which I truly believe can help reduce crime. I believe we as government need to do a better job working together to pool our resources and effectively improve our entire parish. I will engage our school board and school administrators to look for ways to partner and help bring positive change to local schools. I will continue to build relationships with other government agencies to work collaboratively and better leverage our assets to benefit our community.

How would you characterize the community’s “business friendliness”? What changes, if any, would you make to encourage business growth and development?

I believe Abbeville has a reputation for not being business friendly. Since joining council, I have worked with the city team to improve our permitting department. We now have most permits available online and we have made industry specific “permit packages” to take some of the guess work out of local permitting. As full time Mayor, I would like to look at adjusting hours of operation at City Hall to better serve our community and work on ways to simplify procedures and become more efficient. I plan to have quarterly meetings with our business community to discuss ways to improve our business climate. I will also speak with potential investors directly to gain knowledge on what they are looking for and work on closing the deal. With the help of the state economic development team and community volunteers I have also designed a three-year strategic plan defining issues that need to be addressed to make Abbeville more attractive to businesses and residents. I will continue to focus on these issues and use them to guide budget planning and decision making. As an active member of our business community, I believe we have plenty of room for improvement!

How, if at all, would you change the current tax structure in Abbeville?

I think it is important that you know what taxes you pay and where they go, so in the interest of transparency, I would like to share the following:

Sales Tax Breakdown

State Sales Tax 4.45 %

Vermilion Parish School Board 1.5 %

Vermilion Parish Police Jury 1.5 %

Vermilion Parish Sheriff Dept 0.75 %

City of Abbeville 1.75 %

Hospital Service District #2 0.5 %

Total 10.45 %

Current City Allocation of Sales Tax 1.75 %

Capital Outlay (Improvements/Projects) 0.5 %

Rededicated to Employee Benefits 0.5 %

Police and Fire 0.25 %

Employee Raises 2019 0.5 %

We have a very high sales tax rate and I know that this hurts our business community. I will look at our spending habits and find ways to reduce costs and grow other revenue streams. I will study other communities to look for best practices and apply successful initiatives to our city. I would be open to any viable ideas on restructuring taxes, however due to the receipt of ARPA funds, we are currently prohibited from reducing net tax revenue. This restriction may be subject to change in the future.

Why should a businessperson support your election to office?

I come from a business family. I have been a member of our business community for the past 20 years. I am the only candidate that knows what it means to have to make payroll when times are tight. I have worked 20-hour days and given everything I have to a business and had it fail, not because of mismanagement, but because of external obstacles like economic recessions and weather events. I know what it takes to get back up and keep going after closing a business you love. I am the only candidate that understands the reality of the struggles of businesses in our community. I am the only candidate that has navigated the web of red tape it takes to start a business and felt the frustration of inefficient government procedure. I will use my knowledge and experiences to generate a more business friendly environment and take an active approach in recruiting new businesses for our area.

Please for for Roslyn White #9 for Mayor of Abbeville on March 26, 2022.