Courthouse security questioned in Lafourche Parish budget

Members of the Lafourche Parish Council called a $60,000 allocation into question at last week’s special budget meeting for the 2007 fiscal year.

The proposed budget for the Lafourche Parish Government is divided into seven major categories, which determine all appropriations for the 2007 fiscal year.

Two members of the council questioned an account in the general fund, which consumes $7.5 million of the $50.9 million total budget.

According to parish documents, the general fund receives a greater variety of revenue from taxes, licenses, permits and grants than other funds. The general fund also finances a wider range of activities than other parish funds.

Councilman Mark Atzenhoffer of District 5 questioned the allocation of $60,000 to a “miscellaneous” account.

State District Judge Jerome Barbera explained the money is earmarked for guards at the courthouse.

“Why are we responsible for courthouse security,” Atzenhoffer asked.

According to Barbera, the court has paid for security measures in the courthouse building since 1997. The sheriff provides one security officer and the court supplies the officer’s equipment and salary, he said. The court also pays the salaries of two part-time detail officers.

“We are going to be paying almost $80,000 this year alone,” Barber explained. “We can’t afford that anymore. We are running out of money and there is just not enough income to do it.”

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Weber has agreed to provide the labor but there must be a contribution made by the parish to help financially support this expense, according to the judge.

Barbera said, a state Attorney Generals opinion states the entity responsible for security of the building is its owner, which in this case is the parish.

Barbera said that both the court and the parish clerk of court will earmark $20,000 each for this project but the parish should be responsible for the remaining $60,000.

Councilman Tommy Lasseigne of District 4 questioned the sheriff’s office share of the remaining $60,000.

Barbera explained, “The law doesn’t require the sheriff to do the security. The law only requires him to make the courtroom secure. Building security is not his responsibility.”

The money will provide for two full-time security officers and two detail officers for days that jury trials take place, he said.

Barbera said the parish should some day takeover full financial responsibility for courthouse security.

Another area that caused concern for councilmen was the spike in overtime-labor costs in the parish’s roads and bridges account.

Atzenhoffer questioned administrators about the $359,000 allocated toward overtime expenses, a significant hike over the previous year. “Last year’s budget was only $109,000,” he said.

Ray Cheramie, public works director, attributed the increase to the influx of private construction companies and the “oil-field boom” luring employees away with offers of higher wages.

“We are being asked to do more and more but it’s really tough to find people to work, especially in certain areas,” he said.

Lasseigne said the labor increases were understandable, but questioned the need for any increases in supplies.

Finance Director Shannon Chiasson said gasoline prices were a major cause for the increase in supply costs. Because of accounting changes in tracking the expenses, she said various accounts are now being charged for supplies used where they may not have been in previous years. “We are working on that to make sure things are charged correctly,” she said. “While it looks like an increase, it may not be that big of an increase because some things were charged incorrectly in the past.”

Council Chairman Brent Callais asked parish administrators if there should be a separate fund created for the money received from FEMA for the inflatable levees after finding out that it had been added to the civil defense account.

“I don’t know if we should just put this in a separate fund until we find out what we have to do with it. That way if we have to pay it back we can do it without bankrupting the parish,” he said.

The 2007 proposed budget also saw an increase in health insurance and employee benefits, according to Chiasson.

The council is expected to adopt a modified version of the proposed budget by December.

The $50.9 million Lafourche Parish budget is dispersed accordingly among seven major categories:

• General fund-$7.5 million

• Capital budget-$9.3 million

• Special revenue-$26.1 million

• Enterprise fund-$384,685

• Debt services-$6.4 million

• Agency fund-$396,053

• Internal services fund-$706,112

Jared Bailey can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or jared@tri-parishtimes.com