We haven't raised the operation and maintenance tax rate much over the years. And sales taxes basically have tanked.

If the bargain is that you are going to get lower property taxes but higher sales taxes, that is no bargain at all for the folks making less than $100,000. They are going to end up with more of a tax burden than they had before.

I don't know whether we're going to pull it all from sales taxes, impact fees or a combination.

We would like to see local taxes be more balanced and not overly rely on the sales tax. On the other hand, both statewide and presumably locally, we're not only interested in fairness, but we're also interested in adequate revenue for the state and presumably the local government, too.

They want the things Louisiana already has. What they don't want is income taxes and sales taxes as high as we have in the metropolitan areas.

We expect it (increased sales taxes) will continue that way through the year. With Mardi Gras, as well as Festival International, we will see only more people here, not just Katrina residents here, but more visitors.