Steve Bandy /Crowley Post-Signal
The Acadia Parish Police Jury Tuesday night adopted a $26.2 million operating budget for 2019 that includes pay raises for employees and a second medic for the parish jail.
But it took months of negotiations and a number of cost-cutting measures to arrive at that balanced budget.
The plan includes a one-year intergovernmental agreement with Sheriff K.P. Gibson to share evenly in the $73,000 cost of hiring Southern Security, Inc., to provide two armed guards for the courthouse entrance.
The guards will replace two deputies that had been in that position since the security detail was established in 2010. The salary of one of the deputies had been paid by the police jury. Pay for the other was absorbed by the sheriff’s office.
The jury had budgeted $60,000 for that position this year. By hiring the security company and splitting the cost with the sheriff -- $36,500 each – the jury will save $23,500.
Also as part of the funding plan, the jury will withdraw its membership in the Acadiana Planning Commission – saving $12,000 – and transfer the entire $25,000 it had budgeted for economic development. This will zero-out any funding budgeted for economic development in the parish for the coming year.
With the $23,500 savings in security costs, the $37,000 in fund transfers from APC and economic development, and $1,500 in prior year funds, the jury has $62,000 to pay for a much-needed second medic for the Acadia Parish Jail.
Parish employees will receive an across-the-board 3 percent pay increase with merit raises possibly bumping that to 5 percent.
“It’s been a long three months,” said Melinda Leger, administrative and budgeting assistant, after the meeting.
According to the budget adopted Tuesday night, the police jury expects total revenues in all funds of $26.6 and total expenditures of $26.2 million.
That’s a difference of only $337,233 in revenues over expenses for 2019.
A worse outlook is in the jury’s general fund, the day-to-day operational fund for the parish.
Revenues in that fund are down 21.7 percent, from $7.2 million in 2018 to a projected $5.6 million next year.
In the 2019 budget, the general fund has a total balance of $325 for any contingencies.
In other action, jurors:
— Adopted a resolution for a cooperative agreement among the police jury, the city of Eunice and the St. Landry Parish Council for repair-reconstruction of Sittig and Perchville roads using state “rightsizing” funds, pending approval by the Eunice City Council;
— Approved a change order in the amount of $4,734 related to terminal apron rehabilitation at LeGros Memorial Airport;
— Reappointed of Derek Vincent and Michael Richard to Fire Protection District No. 5;
— Reappointed of Larry Cassard, Daniel Nugier and Greg Richard to Fire Protection District No. 1;
— Renewed the contract with Karen Zeringue for Nutrition Services at the Acadia Parish Community Clinics;
— Called public hearings to consider setting a 25-mph speed limit on West Northern Avenue from the railroad tracks to Conrad Road; a 35-mph speed limit on John Smith Road; and a 45-mph speed limit on all parish roads without a designated speed limit (public hearing generally are held at the outset of the following month’s regular meeting);
— Called a public hearing for the partial abandonment of Blackbird Road and the acceptance of the new Blackbird Road;
— Adopted the holiday schedule for 2019;
— Adopted the committee and regular meeting dates for 2019; and
—Approved final adjustments to the 2018 budget to bring budgeted figures and “actual” figures to within the state-mandated plus-or-minus 5 percent range.