EAST BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Parish residents will vote on November 5th on two BREC tax renewals. The taxes going before voters on November 5t generate about $50 million a year, which is more than half of the total tax revenue BREC receives.

One issue on the ballot, which is 3.253 Mills, is a 20-year tax that funds BREC's Strategic Master Plan. The other, which is 6.2 Mills, is a 10-year tax that covers operations and capital improvements.

For a homeowner in a house assessed at $200,000 with a homestead exemption, the two taxes cost $118 a year.

BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson says people should vote yes on the BREC taxes because of what these taxes have allowed them to create.

"That allowed us to transform the system, create all the wonderful community parks we have, Highland road community park, North Sherwood, Forest Community park, Anna T. Jordan. We created 12 community parks," Wilson said.

Wilson says approving the tax renewals will allow for the continuation of the same level of service, while adding in more amenities like new rec centers.

Rolfe McCollister, a local business columnist, says BREC hasn't done enough to account for the tax money the agency has already gotten. He opposes the tax renewals and urges people to vote no.

He says BREC recently submitted its 2021 audit, more than two years late.

"You know I don't think that most people know that BREC was 25 days away from a potential meeting, where the state could have declared that they would be taken over and a master would be named to handle their financial administration," McCollister said.

When asked why the audit took that long to be filed, Wilson said it was a combination of issues.

"Part of the reason for the delay, it certainly had some things that we're in our control in terms of the reconciliation of our bank accounts But we've also had a new software system that was implemented that certainly compounded that, we had some unfilled positions," Wilson said.

Wilson said the 2022 audit has been submitted, it's just up to the schedule of the auditors to review the information. The 2023 audit also is ready.

The 2021 audit cited instances of financial mismanagement, including one employee using an agency credit card to make nearly $70,000 worth of personal purchases between 2018 and 2023. The audit noted that around twenty thousand of it had been paid back in restitution. The former employee has also been criminally charged.

"It's been three years, we're finding out things of money being misappropriated or stolen in the recent audits, but that was three years old, what happened two years ago, what happened last year?" McCollister asked.

In June, BREC hired a new chief financial officer, Don Johnson, to improve financial oversight.