BATON ROUGE — Mayor-President Sid Edwards' plan to balance the city-parish books with library funds and tax revenue from two other agencies failed across the board Saturday night.

His Thrive EBR plan, laid out in three tax renewals across East Baton Rouge Parish, would have relied on money from traditionally independent agencies to cover a budget shortfall. Voters weren't having it.

With all of the parish's 331 precincts reporting unofficial results, the plan to take $52 million from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library fell by a 53-47 margin. Tapping the Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control agency lost 52-48, and taking money from the Council of Aging  failed 51-49.

Edwards had initially proposed having the parish take library funds directly, but an outcry led him and the Metro Council to place the plan before voters. In February, he said the library system's funding surpasses the national average and that he had a greater need for the cash.

Top objectives included raising police officer pay and paying down debt.

As the grim results rolled in, Edwards said he was disappointed but accepted the voters' will.

"As public entities, we know it goes back to our people. So I can rest well tonight knowing people made the decision, and football coach for 40 years, every Friday night, one of two things happened, I won or I lost."

Edwards said he'd use his experience "dusting [himself] off and shaking back" after both wins and losses in his career to move forward in this instance.

In the run-up to Saturday's election, Edwards said he would have to cut more than 400 positions at City Hall and elsewhere if people didn't follow along.

Parish revenues have seen major changes after the recent incorporation of St. George and the end of COVID-era supplemental funding. The new municipality now claims revenue that had gone to the parish, and various estimates have placed East Baton Rouge's budget hole at $40 million or more.

Voters considered the plan in three separate votes, covering revenues for the library, pest control and programs for the elderly:

-The library's 11.1 mills would raise $67.4 million annually, but dedicate a quarter of it to the city-parish general fund.
-The pest control agency's 1 mill would raise $6 million a year, and half of it would be sent to the city-parish.
-The Council on Aging's 2.25 mills would raise $13.7 million a year, and 11 percent of it would go to the city-parish.

In addition to diverting $52 million from the library's current reserve to the city, Edwards' plan also called for $6 million of current mosquito- and rodent-fighting money to be diverted to the city-parish.

In localized races, voters rejected renewing funding for Fire Protection District No. 6, while those in the South Burbank Crime Prevention and Development District renewed a $100 parcel fee.

A 24-mill property tax for Zachary schools to raise $8 million lost 52-48. Zachary Schools released a statement saying while the proposal did not pass, "the district remains steadfast in its commitment to prioritizing competitive pay and
benefits for teachers and staff, recognizing that people are at the heart of Zachary’s continued success."