Tony Marks / Ville Platte Gazette
Since taking office last July, Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory has been operating his office under constraints of a budget that was set in 1977. The income of the office comes from 5.5 mills in ad valorem taxes and money collected from things such as civil fees, tickets, bonds and tax sales.
“It’s still not enough,” Guillory expressed. “We’re so far behind compared to other parishes that it’s embarrassing.”
The sheriff has been seeking and receiving money from grant opportunities but is in need of recurring annual revenue. As a result of that need, he has proposed a one cent sales tax.
“The main thing is safety and protection of the residents of this parish is not free, so I have to try something,” said Guillory. “The goal of having more revenue is to provide that protection for this parish. I really didn’t think of it as a layman plain citizen on the street. I heard Wayne (Morein) say he needed more money, and I heard Sheriff (Eddie) Soileau say he needed more money. But, when I’m at my house or on my deer stand, I’m thinking how come they need more money. Now, I know why they needed more money because I’m here.”
The one cent sale tax, which will be on the ballot some time this year, is expected to generate $3.7 million a year. The estimate is based on the amount generated from a one cent sales tax dedicated to the Solid Waste Commission.
That $3.7 million would be on top of the existing $2.2 million which is already coming in to the sheriff’s office on an annual basis. However, as the sheriff expressed, that total is still not comparable to other parishes such as Allen or Acadia.
“They’re still several million dollars ahead,” he said, “but it would be sufficient because I’m not after $10 million. I don’t need that, but I do need recurring revenue.”
The revenue from the sales tax would cover operations of the sheriff’s office. The following is the sheriff’s wish list based on the tax: sirens; radars; cages; dash cameras; body cameras; 700mhz radios for units; 700 mhz portables with chargers for the units; new laptop computers to process reports and traffic crash reports; flash lights; shotguns and rifles that function; aerial drone for missing people and disaster assessment; new uniforms; hire and retain experienced qualified deputies; training for new and current deputies; school resource officer; juvenile officer; four patrolmen per shift plus a sergeant and criminal patrol officer on every shift to deter crime and increase patrol; more correctional officers; more investigators; more criminal patrol/ narcotics personnel; and new computer equipment with the latest enforcement software along with tracking of the deputies to increase response time to calls.