[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council likely to introduce amendments to 2013 budget

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Council likely to introduce amendments to 2013 budget
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on February 05, 2013 at 2:39 PM, updated February 05, 2013 at 2:44 PM Print

The St. Bernard Parish Council is expected to introduce amended budget items
at its 7 p.m. Tuesday that would fully levy the parish's fire millage and
increase the council's staff by two. The amendments also include a 2-percent
raise for government workers and continue the 100-percent employee insurance
coverage.

And while the 2013 budget introduced and adopted by the council in December
had placed the parish's general fund balance in a $78,500 hole at the end of
2013, the amended budget will provide for a $280,600 cushion come year's
end. The budget also factors in the 10 employee layoffs earlier this year,
bringing the total number of eliminated positions since Parish President
Dave Peralta took office to 92.

In addition to the layoffs, last month there were five employees who were
transferred to grant-funded positions.

The parish administration created the first draft of the proposed amendments
after talks last month between parish administers and members of the
council's Executive Finance Committee. During Monday's Executive Finance
Committee, the committee further reviewed the changes, discussing them with
the parish finance director and chief administrative officer.

At that meeting, the committee added up to $65,000 to hire two more council
assistants, which would bring the council's staff to five members.
Councilman Guy McInnis, chair of the committee, pointed to major cuts in the
council's budget since January 2012, including 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.

He and other councilmen said that the two additional council staff members
would allow the council to better represent their constituents.

When it passed the original 2013 budget in December, the Parish Council had
proposed keeping the fire department at its current level of funding, in
other words not having to levy the full 20-mill fire tax that voters had
approved earlier that month. The decision largely was based on $1.75 million
federal SAFER grant money coming in this year and next.

But after talking with administration and fire personnel last month, the
council apparently decided to change course and fully levy that millage.
Additional money above regular personnel and operating expenses would go
toward capital improvements and into a rainy day fund in case larger
departmental repairs are needed down the line, especially after the SAFER
grant money expires.

And while the administration and the council now apparently agree on
virtually all the proposed 2013 budget amendments, an approximate $500,000
shortfall in the parish sanitation coffers still remains unaddressed. During
the Monday committee meeting, council members and administrators agreed that
they would work to resolve the sanitation budget shortfall by the end of the
month.

Making up for that shortfall 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.