Popular retail areas like The Mall of Louisiana and Perkins Rowe may no longer be a part of the Capital City.
Organizers are petitioning to form a new city, St. George. The proposed city limits would range from
Essen Lane to the borders of Iberville and Ascension Parish.
Dr. James Richardson, Director of LSU’s Public Administration Institute, released a study that found
the incorporation of St. George could potentially cause a 53 million dollar loss to the Baton Rouge city
budget. St. George organizers claim that the loss would only be two percent of the city’s budget.
With recent budget cuts to the university system, students and faculty are concerned about the effects
it may have on LSU. Robert J. Newman, LSU Economics Department Chair, says “LSU primarily derives
its revenue from tuition and state support…at this point I don’t see any impact on LSU, positive or
negative.”
There seems to be no financial impact on LSU or the LSU community, however the social implications
have yet to be considered.