Council nixes parish staff salary hike proposal

The Lafourche Parish Council rejected an ordinance that would increase the parish president’s annual salary by 18 percent and ultimately decided to include the measure on the October 2011 general election ballot.

The ordinance was voted down 6-3, with councilmen Phillip Gouaux, Louis Richard and Jerry Jones in favor of the salary hike. Jones proposed the ordinance, and the prospective raises would not have been in effect until the beginning of the next term, in 2012.

“My concern is us voting a raise for the parish president and council for the next administration, which some of us will probably run for re-election,” Councilman Joe Fertitta said. “I much prefer a referendum where people vote just for the parish president [pay increase]. I cannot vote to give the next parish president and council a raise.”

The original ordinance proposed increasing the parish president’s salary from $67,626 to $100,000 with no annual raise and increasing each councilman’s salary from $12,485 to $17,500 with a 2 percent pay raise every year for four years.

Jones amended the ordinance by deleting the councilmen’s proposed raise and decreasing the parish president’s raise to $80,000. The amendment passed 5-4, with councilmen Lindel Toups, Matt Matherne, Daniel Lorraine and Fertitta opposed.

The last time the parish president received a raise came from a Jan. 11, 2005 ordinance that bumped the salary to $65,000 with a 2 percent annual increase beginning in 2008.

The salaries of the councilmen are currently set to increase by 2 percent until 2027.

Most councilmen did not dispute that the parish president position warranted a raise.

“Parish president is a full-time, sometimes even a 24/7 job during Katrina, Gustav and the BP oil spill,” Councilman Rodney Doucet said. “Looking at the salary, if someone would want to be a parish president, it would be hard. I would have a hard time raising a family at the amount it is now. Increasing the amount of salary might entice more people to run for the position.”

Toups maintained the strongest opposition to the pay raise. He said this wouldn’t be necessary if the council hadn’t approved future Permitting and Planning Director Frank Morris’s $75,000 salary a month ago, adding that he won’t vote for a raise until the parish employee retirement system is addressed.

“I cannot vote to raise the salary when parish employees work for 40 years and have nothing [in a retirement fund],” Toups said. “I’m saying we skip this and work on retirement.”

Parish President Charlotte Randolph stayed out of the debate, but did clarify that the parish offers to match retirement savings up to 6 percent of an employee’s salary.

She went on to say that while parish employees didn’t receive their annual cost-of-living pay raise, they also weren’t faced with an increase in health care costs stemming from revised national health care requirements.

The higher health care costs could be as much as $2,400 over an entire year to insure a family, Randolph said.

“Benefits are a major part of a salary,” Randolph said. “And our employees have a good health care plan.”

After the meeting, Randolph said she would like to see the position get a raise because “it’s an ever-increasing job” and more money will potentially attract more candidates.

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet earns $75,782 annually, and according to the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter, Parish President Paul Naquin Jr. earns $12,000 annually.

“A good time to change this is Oct. 22 next year,” Lorraine said. “That’s what is wrong with government; too many times elected officials make decisions for the people. Let us let the people decide.”