[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council set to approve 2013 budget amendments

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Council set to approve 2013 budget amendments
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on February 04, 2013 at 8:59 PM, updated February 04, 2013 at 9:01 PM Print

While the St. Bernard Parish administration and the Parish Council now
apparently agree on virtually all the 2013 budget amendments, an about
$500,000 shortfall in the Sanitation Department still remains unaddressed.
Regardless, the Parish Council is expected to introduce an initial set of
proposed amendments at its regular Tuesday meeting, at 7 p.m.

During an Executive Finance Committee meeting on Monday, council members and
administrators agreed that they would work to resolve the sanitation budget
shortfall by the end of the month. It could involve removing the current
half-cent sales tax and instead charge residents directly for garbage
pickup, or renegotiating the parish garbage contract, among other proposals.

Some of the agreed-on 2013 amendments involve fully levying the Fire
Department's 20 mills despite the $1.75 million federal SAFER grant money
coming in this year and next. Additional money above regular personnel and
operating expenses would go toward capital improvements and into the
department's general fund -- often called a rainy day fund -- in case larger
departmental repairs are needed down the line, especially after the SAFER
grant money expires.

Also during the meeting, an amendment was added that would increase the
Parish Council's own budget by between $51,000 and $65,000 so it can add two
additional council assistant positions, bringing its total staff to five
members.

The salaries for those posts would range from about $25,000 to $32,000 a
year, said Councilman Guy McInnis, chair of the Finance Committee.

In the fall, the council lost one assistant clerk when she moved to Florida,
and that vacant position is still on the books. So, in addition to Council
Clerk Roxanne Adams, who makes about $78,500, and Deputy Clerk Ashley
Pohlmann, who earns about $32,000, the council would hire three assistants
in the coming year.

"Residents will see the difference in the representation they receive." --
Parish Councilman Guy McInnis
McInnis pointed to other metro New Orleans governing bodies that have much
more assistance, including Plaquemines Parish, where the nine council
members each have their own assistant.

"Because of our low support, we can't do as much for our citizens and so the
people are at a disadvantage," McInnis said. He also pointed to cuts the
council has made in other expenses since taking office.

The Parish Council operating expenses originally were pegged at about
$483,000, but the amended 2012 budget placed actual expenses at about
$394,000, or $89,000 in savings.

In the proposed 2013 amended budget, council operating expenses are pegged
at about $230,000. McInnis said some of the major cuts in the council's
budget since January 2012 include eliminating legislative liaison services,
slashing most travel expenses, and bringing down the pool of council
vehicles from nine cars by the end of 2011 to three cars today.