Harlan Kirgan
Despite a 2-cent tax funding a $66 million bond issue to pave more than 300 miles of roads, the St. Landry Parish Council confronted its monthly limitation to keep up maintenance and drainage on its other roads.
The tax passed in 2013 is collected in rural St. Landry Parish and is dedicated to paving roads and accompanying drainage.
But there are about 900 miles of roads in the parish. The annual bond payment is about $5.5 million and collections are running up to $6.5 million.
Parish President Bill Fontenot has said the excess revenue will be used to pay for more paving, which mean up to 450 miles of road may be paved in the 15-year program.
But the tax money is dedicated to paving and adjacent drainage.
At Wednesday’s Administrative-Finance Committee meeting, Parish Council member Timmy Lejeune said, “Right now in the Public Works Department if you call in to have a road graded it takes six months...”
Lejeune said there are nien employees in the department. Earlier this year in a budget-cutting move, the parish government let 17 employees go and 12 of those were in the Public Works Department.
“We only have nine employees working in Public Works. So therefore we have around 900 miles of road. That means we have one employee ... that takes cares of 200 miles of ditches, 100 miles of road, 100 miles of vegetation, 100 miles of signs that are missing, 100 miles of complaints,” Lejeune said.
“I do know Public Works is doing every single thing that they can to try to get as much done as possible,” he said.
“Actually, I cannot understand how they do as much as they do with little bit of employees that we have,” he said.
Lejeune said the issue is how the parish is going to finance its Public Works department.
“I guess what I’m saying is I want to challenge myself, Mr. Fontenot, his staff and the Council members — where do we go, where do we turn and who do ask for funding?” he said.
Fontenot replied, “I agree with you that we need to start thinking bigger with regard to maybe getting with other parishes because I think they have the same issues where our ad valorem tax is 70 percent eaten up by mandated expenses leaving very little to manage the services.”
The district judges, district attorney, clerk of court, assessor, coroner and some of the sheriff’s functions are included in the mandated expenses.
An audit for the fiscal year ended in December 2016 shows the Road and Bridge Maintenance Fund had revenues of $2.3 million and expenditures of $2.8 million. The imbalance was covered by a transfer into the fund, which had a ripple effect leading to layoffs this year.
Lejeune the offices receiving the funds are important to taxpayers but added, “The people that pay the taxes are the people who live in rural St. Landry Parish and they can’t even leave their home in lot of cases to go work. We have done a large improvement with the Smooth Ride Home. I have to tell you it has been a great job.”
But Lejeune pointed out the Smooth Ride Home program has not helped with day-day-day maintenance.
Fontenot has said previously that as roads are paved, it should free up money because the newly surfaced roads will not require as much maintenance.
In other road news, Fontenot presented speed limits for the newly paved roads. That report is being sent to the full Council at its July 19 meeting.