BATON ROUGE - A controversial petition seeking a vote to incorporate St. George as its own city will officially be submitted next week.

According to Lionel Rainey with the St. George leadership team, the petition has gathered the 13,000 signatures it's been seeking and will be submitted Monday.

The push to make St. George its own city began years ago after residents sought to start their own school system. In order to do so, they needed to create their own city.

Rainey has emphasized in the past that signing the petition does not create the city, but it allows citizens the opportunity to vote whether the incorporation of St. George should occur.

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome continues to stand against the breaking of the city.

"The economics of this whole scenario would certainly have an impact on that community in a negative way," Broome said.