ST. GEORGE - The St. George Transition District members decided to move forward with legal action against East Baton Rouge Parish to settle their dispute over the transfer of a 2% sales tax revenue during their meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The money comes from the portion of sales tax collected by city-parish businesses within the city of St. George. It amounts to a projected $55 million. They've been requesting the money since June. 

"There's no reason the tax dollars haven't been transferred to the city of St. George Transition District at the this time. The law says it should be ours," Chairman of St. George Transition District Andrew Murrell said. 

They also approved filing a suit to prevent the city-parish from stopping any parish services or adding new ones. 

Murrell says the dispute doesn't only affect St. George, it harms the entire parish. 

"Their refusal to recognize that we're incorporated as the city of St. George is going to end up costing all of us time, money, resources, that should've been utilized to move forward. Instead we're going to have to move it to a courtroom," he said. 

Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome's office released a statement saying it would be irresponsible to transfer parish tax revenues without intergovernmental agreement and it's disappointing to see the district take this route.

The full statement can be read below:

“It is disappointing to see the St. George Transition District has chosen this route and seems to want to perpetuate the narrative that the City-Parish and Mayor-President Broome are unwilling to work with them. Rather, the facts demonstrate that Mayor-President Broome initiated the first meeting with St. George officials and the start of negotiations. We await a response from the City of St. George on what services they wish to provide for their residents and what services they wish the City-Parish to continue providing. As Mayor-President for the entire parish, it’s incumbent upon the Broome administration to be concerned about who is responsible for picking up trash, cutting the grass, maintaining streets, and managing drainage. It would be irresponsible to simply transfer parish tax revenues without an intergovernmental agreement allocating responsibility. Mayor-President Broome looks forward to receiving a response to her August 13th letter, as the City-Parish continues to work daily towards the successful completion of an intergovernmental agreement in the best interest of all East Baton Rouge Parish residents.”