By T. Scott Boatright
Grambling’s City Council approved that the city’s millage rates will remain the same in 2027 as they are in 2026 while also granting approval for Mayor Alvin Bradley to sign a contract with the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) in the primary orders of business during its meeting for the month of July on Thursday evening at City Hall.
Those millage rates bring in a total property tax levy of 40.29 mills.
That rate is comprised of three municipal millages — 5.40 mills for Capital Outlay and General Alimony, 7.31 mills for the Public Improvement Bond, and 4.52 mills for Public Streets.
A mill is a unit of measurement that represents one-tenth of a cent (0.001). The mill rate (or millage rate) dictates how much property tax a property owner owes by charging $1 in tax for every $1,000 of the property’s assessed value.
The contract Bradley will sign with IBTS will provide Grambling with services including accessibility code services, building inspections, building permits, fire code enforcement and inspections, floodplain management, plan reviews, planning and zoning, property maintenance, and stormwater services.
Bradley said one of the primary services IBTS will provide is building inspections and permits, collecting fees with the company keeping inspection fees while remitting the permit fees back to the city of Grambling.
“What this does is help the city with new businesses coming into the city, making sure the plans are right and that properties and structures are built to specifications,” Bradley said. “Right now we don’t have that.”
He added that IBTS will play a key role in trying to handle the problem of blighted buildings currently existing in Grambling.
“We can also get them to inspect blighted properties and give us a report and recommendation of whether they need to be torn down, or if they need to be asbestos abated, or whether they can be rehabbed,” Bradley said. “We’re going to put them to work. They’re going to have to roll up their sleeves and go to work.”
In other business, the council introduced an ordinance to change the owner of a property off U.S. Highway 80 from Elliott Jones and Monica Jones to Cathy Holmes-Giles.
During the reports portion of the meeting, Lt. Bobby Washington of the Grambling Police Department reported that the GPD dealt with no problems whatsoever during the city’s more than weeklong Juneteenth celebration, with event chairperson Holmes-Giles saying the turnout for the celebration was the biggest she has ever seen in Grambling.
Public Works Director Eric Caldwell said that on July 5 a 6-inch water main broke on Bennett Road, but because water valves have already been installed in that area, his department was able to isolate the water lines in that area to make repairs with no service interruptions to the rest of the city.
Caldwell said that there are more valves that will be installed elsewhere but that the success realized during the Bennett Road water main break shows the importance of adding the valves throughout the rest of the city.
Ricky Burton was also at the meeting to announce that the first annual free Michael Brooks football camp will be held Saturday at Lincoln Preparatory School with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. and the camp itself running from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for boys of any skill level between the ages of 12 and 18.
The camp will include position drills, speed and agility training and a 7-on-7 competition as well as guest speakers, leadership development, photos, awards, and giveaways.
Brooks, who starred at Ruston High and LSU, went on to play linebacker in the NFL for the Denver Broncos and New York Giants and will also have other former football players on hand to help conduct the camp.
Burton also said the local HBCU Boosters group will hold a fishing outing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 8 that will include a fishing contest, a dominoes tournament, special education sessions, and senior citizen activities.
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