[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council agrees on firefighting fee

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Council agrees on firefighting fee

Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 11:30 PM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

St. Bernard Parish Council members and Parish President Dave Peralta on
Tuesday evening agreed on a new proposal to begin addressing the parish's
budget crisis. The plan, received with applause by people in attendance who
included many parish firemen, involves levying a $32 monthly household fee
on parish residents for the next four months to pay for the parish fire
department.

Then, on the Dec. 8 ballot, parish voters would decide whether they prefer
to replace that $32 monthly fee with a 20-mill property tax, which would add
about $90 to the annual tax bill -- or about $7.50 a month -- of a $120,000
home that qualifies for homestead exemption.

The $32 monthly fee through December would generate about $1.5 million,
based on Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Graves' estimate of about 14,700
parish households. That would put the parish close to bridging its projected
$2.3 million deficit for the remainder of the year.

If approved by voters, the 20-mill tax would replace the $32 monthly fee
next year and would generate about $5.7 million annually. That would still
put the parish well shy of next year's projected $10.2 million deficit.

Graves has said the largest drain on the parish budget is the fire
department, which he has said operates at a $5.5 million annual loss.

The new proposal likely will be introduced this Tuesday at the 7 p.m. Parish
Council meeting. It would replace the ordinance introduced by the council
last week that proposed adding a $27.51 monthly fee per residence for the
foreseeable future. That $27.51 fee would have generated about $5 million
annually.

But even with the additional $5 million, the parish government previously
estimated it still would have had to lay off another 92 parish employees.

Councilmen and Peralta on Tuesday vowed to continue looking for further
cost-saving options.

Councilman Richie Lewis, chairman of the Executive Finance Committee, handed
the administration a list of potential non-personnel cuts that could save
the parish about $1.7 million.

After the Executive Finance Committee ended on Tuesday evening, several
councilmen also proposed the idea of placing a separate measure on the Dec.
8 ballot that would allow residents to vote on an additional monthly fee for
other parish services, such as community development, recreation, public
works, mosquito control, road lighting and sanitation.

St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman Guy McInnis, one of three finance
committee members, is holding a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in
council chambers at 8201 W. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette to further
discuss budget options moving forward. At that meeting, he is expected to
discuss ideas for a second December ballot fee proposal.

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch at timespicayune.com or
504.826.3321.



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