ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / December 5, 1999

LAPLACE – Newly-elected parish council members for St. John the BaptistParish were given a taste of what their jobs will be like at a budget workshop last Tuesday evening.

Council President Duaine Duffy, and council members Nickie Monica, Ranney Wilson and Perry Bailey took new council members Melissa Faucheux, Steve Lee, Lester Rainey Jr., Cleveland Farlough, Jobe’ Boucvaltand Allen St. Pierre through the year 2000 budget, giving the newcomerspointers, information and advice on how to deal with parish fiscal matters.

This was just a workshop, Duffy told the new members, and the submitted budget has to be adopted by the last council meeting in December 1999. Hesaid it’s still a “vanilla” budget, that is, it can be changed and amended by the new council in 2000. Duffy invited all questions and comments duringthe workshop but said no official action can be taken until the council meeting on Dec. 28.Tuesday evening, the workshop mainly dealt with the general fund revenues and expenditures which include recreation, public works and economic development.

Parish financial advisor Claudette Raphael told the council newcomers the revenue sources for 2000 are about the same as 1999. The only changesare an increase in the video poker tax from $150,000 to $170,000 and a slight decrease in the sales tax district revenue resulting in $3.4 millionin the general fund.

The general fund money is used to pay everything that isn’t already dedicated. All debts must be paid through the general fund. Also, by statelaw, the parish uses the monies in the general fund to pay for the court system and part of the sheriff’s budget, including lodging and feeding of parish prisoners.

In 2000, there will also be the extra cost of the Daniel Blank trial. It willcost the parish at least $100,000 in court costs to put the serial killer on trial, newcomers learned.

“Also, keep in mind,” Duffy reminded the new council members, “it will cost between $20,000 and $30,000 to sequester the Blank jury.”The jury for the trial is being brought in from another parish and will have to be lodged and fed.

Blank is scheduled to be tried next year for the murders of three St. JohnParish residents.

A new expense for the general fund, it was explained, is a request by the parish constables for a raise of $3,000, who would like to be paid the same amount as the justices of the peace. Bailey remarked that otherparishes have raised the salaries of constables, and he thinks St. Johnshould do the same.

Farlough asked Raphael if all employees who ask for raises have to justify their request, and Raphael said they did. Farlough wanted to know if theconstables were justified, and Raphael said she believes they are.

This is a matter that will be taken up by the new council in 2000, she said.

The most controversial matter, it seems, is the status of the economic development fund, money supposed to be used for promoting economic development in the parish. The fund gets its revenue by taking 3/8 of acent from the sales tax. However, there are no real projects in the EDCand, as Wilson said, it is mostly a “slush fund” used to finance other projects in the general fund, public works and debt services.

One of Farlough’s main campaign issues was to use the EDC to help the parish. He asked the veteran council members if there was an EconomicDevelopment Committee in place.

Wilson replied, “We should, but there is no money because it has all been budgeted away to other funds.”The new District 7 councilman, Steve Lee, said the EDC fund if very handy if the right project comes along, but “we have to very cautious on how we use it.”Raphael agreed. “Without the EDC, we wouldn’t have enough money and wewould have to shut down the general fund.”Parish president-elect Nickie Monica later said, “The money in the EDC is keeping some departments open and operating. We need the EDC fordrainage and roads.” Monica said his transition team is looking into getting an Economic Development Department going and trying other ways to fund it.

“I want to get a fund just for the Economic Development Department,” he said.

New council members also heard reports from the parish auditors who had some good news.

The debt services for the parish went down from 35 percent to 33 percent, and the parish is carrying a big debt load.

Public works is also doing well. Shread-Kurkyndahl, the engineering firmhandling all the drainage work for the parish, reported that the master drainage plan for the parish is on schedule and should be finished within the next 12 to 18 months. Some of the drainage projects are also underbudget, and that extra money will be used to help out extreme problem areas such as the areas in Reserve around West Seventh Street, which was brought up by councilman-elect St. Pierre.Mike Patorno, the parish consultant for road work, said that with federal grants the parish will have the money to do major overlays and repair work on parish roads.

At the end of the meeting, Lee thanked the council for not making any changes on the 2000 budget and letting the new council members in on what was going on.

Farlough ended the meeting by saying, “I appreciate that we were asked in.”

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