BATON ROUGE – The battle between those for and against the incorporation of St. George is going strong. Both sides pushing their arguments do agree on something: early voting in this election will be crucial.

“I think we're going to see a very good turnout starting this Saturday when early voting begins,” said Chris Rials, the petition for St. George vice-chairman.

Rials attended a forum put on by One Baton Rouge, those against incorporation, Thursday night. The nonprofit's goal was to point out budget problems organizers believe will pop up if voters approve of a new city.

“To provide the same amount of services in a cooperative agreement if they were to separate or break away into their own city it’s almost guaranteed, to receive the same services, that taxes will increase,” said M.E. Cormier with One BTR.

Rials disagrees, saying they'll base their finances off of Central.

“They've lived off of their 2 cent sales tax for 14 years, in fact, they have had a budget surplus every year for the last 14 years. So the city of Central has never raised taxes and we're going to use the exact same model.”

Voters attending the forum soaked up all the information. Many are eager to have their voices heard.

“I'm going to vote early,” said Mike Giroir. “I think a lot of people have made up their mind. I'm not one of them yet, but it’s a really important election.”