Harlan Kirgan
St. Landry Parish Government plans to open an office on the second floor of the Eunice Municipal Complex this week.
Parish President Jessie Bellard announced the office opening when he spoke to the Eunice Rotary Club on Wednesday.
Bellard said Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot invited Bellard to open the office and said it will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 430 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The office will be a first for parish government at Eunice, he said.
The office will be able to assist people with road and bridge, Community Action Agency and other services provided by parish government, he said.
Bellard gave an overview of his tenure as parish president. He was voted into the job by the Parish Council on Aug. 24 and announced then he intends to run for election to the position in March.
Bellard said one of the immediate issues he faced when he took the office were complaints about grass-cutting. To remedy the issue, the said two tractors and shredders have been purchased from Iron Horse Sales and Service, east of Eunice on U.S. 190. Bellard said they should be ready to cut grass on parish roads by spring.
Bellard also stressed the importance of passing a jail tax to parish operations. The 1-mill, 10-year property tax was on Saturday’s ballot.
The parish government is working on collecting fees from parish prisoners. The collection was approved in 2005, but about $1 million is owed the parish, he said.
The Parish Council is going to be asked to passed a tax on Medicaid payments at private hospitals in the parish. The tax is to be reimbursed by the federal government, which is matching the Medicaid payments by 110%. Parish government will be paid about 5% of the money as an administrative fee, he said. The parish expects to get paid from $125,000 to $350,000 , which will go to the road and bridge fund, he said.
Bellard said parish government expects to complete this year without borrowing any money as has been done in the past.
But he noted the financial pressure to parish government. In 2012, the parish received $780,000 in severance tax payments. This year the severance payments were expected to be $358,000, but will be $211,000, he said.