[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish factors $32 fire fee into budget despite lax payment

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish factors $32 fire fee into budget despite lax payment
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on December 19, 2012 at 6:18 PM Print

The St. Bernard Parish government on Wednesday morning sent the Parish
Council its proposed amended 2012 budget. One issue that likely will come up
during the council's  Dec. 28 meeting is the fact that the amended 2012
budget factors in money the parish still expects to collect from the $32
fire fee assessed for September and October.

The parish had anticipated receiving $1 million from the $32 assessed to
parish residents and businesses in September and October to help maintain
the fire department's current staffing levels.

But while the parish's proposed 2012 budget amendment still factors in the
anticipated $1 million for September and October as revenue for 2012, the
parish has only received about $11,000 for those two months.

"There was a question as to whether or not we still should include that in
the amended budget as a receivable," Chief Administrative Officer Jerry
Graves said on Wednesday. "As far as we are concerned, the $32 fee was
legally assessed for revenue and it is still owed to the parish unless that
is officially changed by the council or the courts."

Initially, the council passed the $32 fee through December, but the council
stopped the final two months of collection after the parish received
additional funds from higher-than-anticipated sales tax and property tax
collections and about $600,000 from a statewide legal settlement.

When the council ended the last two months of collections, some parish
residents appear to have determined it meant that the previous two months
also were no longer needed. Initially, parish councilmen had talked of
repealing the first two months and only have the last two months collected,
but they changed course and decided instead to simply keep the first two
months of collection in place.

"The $32 fee was legally assessed for revenue and it is still owed to the
parish." - CAO Jerry Graves
While residents at council meetings appeared largely against the $32 fee
when it passed, parish voters this month passed a 20-mill tax that now,
along with a tax already in place, will support the department for the next
10 years.

If the $1 million anticipated from the first two months was not factored
into the 2012 budget? "You would wind up with a negative balance if you take
that out," Graves said. "We would have to make up for it sometime next
year."