[StBernard] St. Bernard council OKs 2009 budget

[Westley Annis]

I can see a (modest) raise for employees as nothing has gone down in costs.
However, $3/hr x 2080 hrs = $6,240.00/per employee in a raise.  That's a
healthy chunk of change for a parish dealing with fiscal constraints.  Also,
I read on nola.com that the council sec'y got a $20k annual raise plus drive
home car.  Any truth to that?  

JY


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	St. Bernard council OKs 2009 budget
	by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
	Wednesday December 03, 2008, 6:11 PM
	The St. Bernard Parish Council has approved a $41.6 million spending
plan
	for 2009 that cuts overall spending from this year and relies
heavily on
	federal disaster loan money from Hurricane Gustav to
	 pay for basic
	operations. 
	
	
	The budget contains raises for all employees, including
firefighters, but
	calls for spending cuts in most departments, especially recreation
and
	tourism. St. Bernard will continue a hiring freeze into 2009. The
parish has
	been able to continue its services the past three years because of a
series
	of community disaster loans issued by FEMA after Hurricanes Katrina
and
	Gustav. This year's loan of $5 million represents nearly 15 percent
of the
	parish's operating revenue, and will go primarily to the fire
department
	and
	garbage expenses. 
	
	In a budget message to the council, Parish President Craig Taffaro
said a
	similar loan cannot be expected next year. 
	
	"It is imperative that the Parish Council and administration explore
	revenue
	alternatives or reduce the package of services offered in the
current budget
	in preparation for (2010)," he wrote. 
	
	For 2008, the
	 parish used more than $8 million in community disaster loan
	money from Katrina for parish government administration, the fire
department
	and garbage disposal. 
	
	More than $3.6 million in disaster loan money went toward paying off
garbage
	costs of $7.5 million in 2008. The higher-than-usual costs were
related to
	large amounts of debris that came through a parish-owned waste
transfer
	station operated by SDT Waste & Debris Services. 
	
	The council and Taffaro's administration are still negotiating a
potential
	settlement on landfill expenses for which St. Bernard may not have
been
	responsible. Garbage costs are expected to be $5 million in 2009,
after SDT
	has largely abandoned the transfer station, but the parish will
still
	require an infusion of $1.2 million in disaster loan cash to cover
costs. 
	
	The budget was crafted without including two fees passed earlier
this year
	by the council: a $20-per-household
	 garbage fee and a $1-per-household
	mosquito control fee. Both of those fees were nixed by the council
in
	approving the budget Tuesday night. 
	
	The council approved the garbage fee this summer based on much
higher
	projections for garbage costs in 2009, because of the high landfill
costs
	associated with the SDT transfer station. 
	
	Council Chairman Wayne Landry has criticized Taffaro for pushing for
the
	garbage fee after River Birch landfill executives informed him of
the
	irregularities in landfill costs in January. He also said the
parish's
	charter says new fees must be submitted to the voters for approval. 
	
	"I feel that we need to do it the right way and if we're going
impose
	--
	whether $1 or $10,000 -- it needs to go to a vote of the people,"
Landry
	said Tuesday after the garbage fee was rescinded. 
	
	Taffaro pointed out in the report that the garbage budget still
suffers from
	a deficit of more
	 than $1 million, and that the council must explore new
	ways to generate revenue in the coming year. 
	
	"If that means we have to get it on a ballot, then I think we have
to get
	it
	on a ballot," Taffaro said Wednesday. "We're still over $1
	million short of
	what the tax revenues generate to cover that cost." 
	
	Next year's budget anticipates a $2 million increase in sales tax
revenue
	to
	$17 million. The spending plan includes raises for all employees,
including
	increasing the minimum hourly pay from $6 to $9, and increasing the
minimum
	pay for firefighters from $6.95 to $8.45 per hour. That raise does
not
	include $4.25 per hour state supplemental pay after the first year
of
	service. 
	
	The largest increases in spending from the previous year come in the
Fire
	Department, economic development and community development. 
	
	. . . . . . . 
	
	Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham at timespicayune.com
	 or 504.826.3321.