Is it OK to use parish road tax money in a city?

A summary judgement on the use of Smooth Ride Home tax money will be sought by Parish President Bill Fontenot.
A state attorney general’s opinion stated revenue from the 2 percent sales tax collected in rural areas “... may not be used to improve or maintain roadways that are located outside the District.”
The opinion was issued June 17 and announced at Wednesday’s meeting of the St. Landry Parish Council.
The tax funds Road District 1, which is the unincorporated area of St. Landry Parish.
The opinion was sought after parish government planned road work in Cankton. The road was half inside the village and half in the parish.
“I think any practical individual that has any good judgement would say you can’t pave half of a road,” Fontenot said after Wednesday Parish Council meeting, “You can’t pave just the center of the road up to the center. First of all, that would be a liability. That would be engineering foolishness to do that.”
Fontenot said the opinion failed to consider parish maps.
“I’m going to take those maps, hopefully in the very near future, that’s my plan at this time, and go to a judge and have a summary judgement made to make a decision on whether or not I can pave those roads or not.”
As for the Cankton road in question, Fontenot said, “It has only been a parish road since the first person tracked down that road.”
The Smooth Ride Program, which was approved by voters in 2013, is a 15-year road improvement program. The 2 percent tax is expected to generate about $7 million a year. A $66 million bond issue has been sold to fund road work.
The Parish Council voted 9-1 to send the opinion to the 12 municipalities in the parish during Wednesday’s meeting.
Gary Courville, Eunice councilman, who was the lone vote against sending the opinion to municipalities, said Pam Gautreau was trying to tell Eunice what to do.
Chad Pitre, the council’s attorney, said the opinion’s caption stated “.. in essence the overlay of a joint roadway with the village of Cankton and parish ... is improper.”
Fontenot said the issue is a road network.
“Just like right here, Vine and Landry is U.S. 190 and that is in the city,” he said. “The city is not responsible for maintaining it. It is just like 190 going through Eunice or Highway 13 going through Eunice. That is a state road. It is in the city limits, but the city doesn’t maintain it, the state does.
“So, I contend, and I believe, a judge will agree if this is a parish road and has been a parish road since the beginning of time and we’ve been maintaining it, that we would certainly have the right to pave it as a part of the network, which is really what the Smooth Ride Home is addressing — the network of parish roads.”
Fontenot said the issue is a technicality not written into the law that the all parish roads are to be paved including those passing through incorporated areas.
If the opinion stands, it would mean annexed areas with parish roads would be left out of the Smooth Road Program, according to Fontenot.
“When a city annexes a parish or state road it doesn’t maintain the road,” he said.
Fontenot said he had begun the process of pursing a summary judgement before Wednesday’s meeting.