The Louisiana Supreme Court, overturning a lower court, has ruled that the community of St. George on the southeast side of Baton Rouge can incorporate into its own city – one that will be wealthier than the state's capital.
Residents must now set up their own school board, police force, and other services, but Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) says that was exactly the point.
"They're wanting to be able to make sure they have safe streets, they have good schools," he reports. "Why are people against that?"
Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome (D), who had sued to stop St. George, is upset that her city is losing some $48 million in taxes. But Perkins says she and the city council had plenty of warning, as St. George started the incorporation process in 2015.
Also, it is not the first community to separate from the capital city; 20 years ago, he was part of the formation of what is now Central, Louisiana.
"We wanted to have our own school district so we would have more autonomy, because we weren't being well served by the parish government," the FRC president remembers. "It's just communities wanting to have more control over their tax dollars to ensure that the resources that they put into government are being used effectively.
He advises Baton Rouge to start fixing its crime and education problems before more suburbs break away.
"This is a problem … for Baton Rouge, but it's a problem because of poor management," Perkins concludes.
