There was not enough money to do what needed to be done in 2017 -- there never is. However, the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury is ending 2017 with surpluses in all of its operating accounts and has adopted a budget for 2018 that gives employees a raise and will also live within its means.
The most significant new budget expenditure for 2018 is a 3 percent raise for all employees. Parish employees have not had a cost-of-living increase in several years. The Police Jury also raised the floor of its wages, making $9 an hour the minimum wage for a parish job.
There are only a few employees currently earning less than $9 an hour. The 3 percent pay raise will go into effect Jan. 1. Any salary not at $9 an hour after that raise will be bumped up to $9 an hour.
Most of the money and activity centers on four accounts: General Fund, Road & Bridge, Solid Waste and Drainage.
The General Fund -- which pays for just about everything that is not a road, bridge, drainage or solid waste-related expenditure -- had revenues of $1.99 million this year and expenditures of $1.81 million. However, those figures include funds received from FEMA for disaster recovery projects.
Barring any such event in 2018, the Police Jury is anticipating $1.744 million in revenue and costs of $1.711 million.
Police Jury President Charles Jones told jurors that the General Fund is the “least healthy” of the operating accounts and could be facing a deficit if things continue in the direction they are going with no new revenue source to cover the statutorily-mandated costs paid out of that fund.
The Police Jury transferred $100,000 from the Solid Waste Fund to the General Fund this year to cover costs. The 2018 budget does not include any such transfer.
When people think Police Jury, most think roads and bridges.
The 2018 budget projects a $30,000 increase in revenue for the $1.5 million account. However, the jury is also playing this one extremely close to the vest, projecting a year-end surplus of $75. It had a $43,046 surplus this year.
The Solid Waste Fund received $3.07 million this year and is expected to receive $3.16 million next year. Although the fund has a healthy accumulated reserve, it actually ended in a deficit this year due to the $100,000 transfer to the General Fund. The 2018 budget predicts a $5,767 surplus.
The 1-percent sales tax which funds this program is also up for renewal next year. The penny tax is divided with 3/4 to pay for parishwide solid waste collection/disposal and 1/4 to support the road and bridge work in the parish.
The Police Jury is projecting more state revenue sharing funds for drainage in 2018, resulting in revenues jumping from $381,272 this year to $517,250 next.
Bearing in mind that a budget is just a “spending plan” and not a set-in-stone promise, the jury is anticipating spending every penny of the Drainage Fund budget next year. It ended this year with an $11,389 surplus.
ROAD DISTRICT 2
Road District 2 is the newest operating account in the budget. 2018 will be the first year the 30-mill property tax will be collected to support the road improvement projects in eastern Avoyelles. Work was funded this year with a $1 million bond issue that will be repaid from the property tax proceeds over the next 10 years.
The district ended the year with $576,100 of that bond money unspent. Most of that amount is obligated to projects that were approved in the past few months.
The district is expected to collect $780,000 from the tax and receive $40,000 in state revenue sharing funds.
Of that amount, $116,115 will be paid on the bond issue.
The budget indicates almost all of the remaining $704,000 collected will be spent on construction projects during the year.