[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish worst-case scenario 2013 budget paints 150 layoffs, other cuts

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish worst-case scenario 2013 budget paints 150 layoffs, other
cuts
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, Staff Writer 
on October 03, 2012 at 11:59 AM, updated October 03, 2012 at 12:04 PM Email

| Print


A working, worst-case scenario document, the proposed 2013 budget introduced
by the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday evening represents an overall
$8.5 million reduction. The bulk of the cuts are in layoffs, with about 150
employees potentially on that chopping block.

"In light of the current financial state of St. Bernard Parish Government,
significant changes are necessary in order for the 2013 Operating and
Capital Budget to be balanced and for SBPG to be sustained going forward,"
St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta states in the budget's opening
letter, addressed to parish councilmen and dated on Tuesday. "While many of
the changes discussed herein may seem drastic, we are in the unfortunate
position of having no choice but to take drastic action."

Peralta said he applauds the council for putting the two recent proposals on
the December ballot -- an increased fire millage and a rededication of the
sanitation sales tax -- and says, "Obviously, if either of these measures is
approved by the voters of St. Bernard Parish, many of the changes discussed
in this document may become unnecessary."

But if the proposed ballot measures fail, the 2013 budget projects 70
non-fire personnel and 79 firefighters layoffs, with half of all fire
stations closed. The cash-strapped parish government has stated that the
Fire Department is the largest drain on the parish budget, operating at a
$5.5 million annual loss.

That layoffs would be on top of about 95 employees who already have
resigned, retired or were fired earlier this year. This year, the parish
government has lost about 60 parish employees -- while it lost about 95
people, it hired at least 35 new employees. Those employee reductions saved
the parish about $1.6 million.

In addition to layoffs, the proposed 2013 budget would eliminate overtime
for the parish road crews, increase employee contributions for health care
and end executive insurance plans, along with many other cross-department
expense cuts.

While the council introduced the 2013 budget at its 7 p.m. Tuesday evening
meeting, the council only had received a copy of that budget at about 5 p.m.
There was no discussion of of the proposed budget's projections at the
council meeting. It was described as simply a working document that would
get much more attention later; under law the 2013 budget must be introduced
90 days before year's end. It will not be adopted until Dec. 2.

On Nov. 3, Nov. 10 and possibly Nov. 17, the Parish Council will hold
in-depth budget review meetings that will be open to the public. During
those sessions, the council is expected to look at various alternatives, in
case the ballot measures pass or don't pass voters' muster.

"We are in the unfortunate position of having no choice but to take drastic
action." -- Parish President Dave Peralta
Peralta says the government does have "a number of opportunities to increase
revenue as a means of balancing the 2013 budget."

"However, please note that such opportunities typically involve increasing
fees and/or taxes paid by the public," he stated in his opening letter.

The Parish Council on Tuesday night passed a resolution asking Peralta to
reduce the 2012 budget by 10 percent, which would save about $1 million
annually. The council on Tuesday also introduced an ordinance that would
allow the parish to take out a $5 million bond that parish Finance Director
Beverly B. Gariepy has said is only out of "an abundance of caution" in case
sales tax revenue in the coming months declines further than expected and
expenses cannot be cut any more.

And, the council passed a resolution requesting the administration to submit
a budget amendment that covers all previous budgets cuts implemented by the
administration since taking office in January.

Apart for increases in parish government and infrastructure, and continuing
Hurricane Katrina recovery expenses that are less and less covered by
outside grants, the parish budget is drained due to sales tax revenue
declines from previous years --- years when BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill
caused unsustainable spikes in such revenue.

But, the previous administration and council had created the 2012 budget
under the assumption that such inflated sales tax revenues would remain.

And in the first four months of the year, the parish's sales tax revenue
showed that bubble pop. The revenue dropped substantially, by about $2.6
million compared with last year.


>From May though July, sales tax numbers had leveled out to about last year's

revenues, sparking some hope among council members and administrative staff.

But on Tuesday, Council Chairman Guy McInnis received still-tentative August
sale tax returns showing only about $1.1 million in sales taxes compared
with about $1.6 million in August of last year. "So we've dropped off a
cliff again, with about $500,000 behind," McInnis said at the Tuesday night
meeting.

The August dip puts the parish already about $3.1 million behind last year's
revenues, with four more months to come.

The administration has projected a $2.3 million deficit for the remainder of
the year and a $10.2 million deficit for next year if no cuts are made.