[StBernard] St. Bernard voters to decide on fire protection, garbage fee

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard voters to decide on fire protection, garbage fee
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
November 09, 2009, 4:45AM
A controversial proposal asking residents if they want to ban new apartment
complexes in St. Bernard Parish has been rescinded, but voters will still go
to the polls Saturday to decide on additional fees that parish leaders say
are crucial to plugging millions of dollars in anticipated budget shortfalls
next year.

The parish is asking whether residents will pay a monthly $20-per-household
fee for  fire protection and garbage pickup.The fee, expected to generate
about $3.36 million per year, will be evenly split between fire and garbage
services. Last year those two services, which the parish says cost around
$10.5 million annually, had budget shortfalls requiring millions in
transfers from the parish's general fund, mostly made up of sales tax
revenue. If passed, the fire protection and sanitation budgets would still
be nearly $4 million in the red, requiring additional infusions of sales tax
money from the parish's general fund. 

"This $20 fee doesn't cover our gap; it just eats into our gap a little
bit," Parish President Craig Taffaro said. "We still have cuts to make."

Next year marks the first year since Hurricane Katrina that St. Bernard's
budget won't be buoyed by community disaster loans from the federal
government. The parish intended to reserve a portion of last year's $5
million loan from Hurricane Gustav for 2010, but slumping sales tax
collections have made that unlikely.

The $20 fee would expire at the end of 2015, and would require another
election to be reinstituted. The Parish Council also recently included a
provision that would exempt anyone older than 65 who has a homestead
exemption in the parish. The fee would be assessed to any home or business
with a water meter.

Without the additional money, Taffaro and the council will have to make
deeper cuts across the board. Taffaro has mentioned the likelihood of fewer
responses to complaint calls, reduced grass cutting and cutbacks in sidewalk
repairs.

Some residents have been skeptical of parish government asking for the fees,
particularly when services such as water meter readings have been
scattershot since the 2005 storm. Many residents either don't have reliable
water meters or are simply being charged flat fees of about $16, leading
some to wonder whether parish government could be capturing more revenue.

"I think folks are looking for fiscal responsibility in what they are
managing before they're willing to dish out the rest, to give the additional
$20," said Polly Boudreaux, president of the civic association for Meraux's
Lexington Place subdvision and herself a former council member and council
clerk.

Howard Luna, a parish justice of the peace who heads a group called
Rediscover District C in Chalmette, agrees that government could stand to
tighten its belt, but fears what might be lost if the fee doesn't pass.

What will have to be cut "in order to meet our obligations for trash
collection and firefighters?'' Luna asked. "Does it come from a fund that's
maybe helping to demolish commercial properties? Or from a fund to help keep
grass cut?"

The $10 that would go to garbage collection would put the parish on par with
other surrounding municipalities that currently charge fees. St. Bernard is
the only parish in the metropolitan area that does not charge residents a
monthly garbage fee. In New Orleans, for instance, residents pay $12 per
month. In Jefferson Parish, it's more than $13 per month. The fund is now
financed through sales tax and some property tax.

The fire protection issue deals with the amount of staffing needed at the
parish's 12 fire stations. The Fire Department has 94 firefighters, about
three-quarters of its pre-Katrina number, but faces staffing and equipment
requirements in order to prevent property insurance rates from escalating.
The Property Insurance Association of Louisiana rates parishes and
municipalities on firefighting capabilities, meaning the parish must pay
overtime or find money for new firefighters to maintain pre-Katrina
staffing.

"Our geographic region hasn't changed in terms of fire protection coverage,
because we still have residents we have to serve from the eastern end of the
parish all the way to Arabi," Taffaro said.