Bayou Vermilion District does the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping Bayou Vermilion debris-free. Voters in Lafayette Parish will be asked on Saturday to renew a .75-mill, 10-year property tax to fund the agency, which also operates Vermilionville, the living history museum and folklife park that for two decades has accurately portrayed South Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cultural roots to visitors from around the world.

Also on the ballot Saturday: approval of a $4 million, 20-year bond issue for improvement projects along the bayou and at Vermilionville.

This is a no-brainer: No one’s tax burden will rise with approval of these measures. It’s simply a renewal of an existing tax. The average homeowner in the parish pays about $12 per year to fund BVD, an organization that hauls tons of trash — appliances, plastics, furniture; virtually anything that can be thrown out is thrown into the bayou — from the Vermilion each year. The bayou was once one of the most polluted in the country, but in 1984 the BVD was created and set about not only cleaning the bayou but promoting its recreational use.

Let’s keep this worthy operation afloat.

Read more about the proposals on Saturday’s ballot at The Advocate and The Advertiser.