Financing a jail? Not with this tax, LPSO sheriff says

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said the Lafourche government is pursuing undeserved revenue in a matter that has already been settled in court and he threatened to hold the parish accountable for statutorily required financial obligations if it continues to do so.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph questioned whether the sheriff’s office is correctly spending money dedicated by a 1984 citizen-approved tax, which was intended to help finance upgrades and operational and construction costs of a jail facility.

The debate stems over interpretation in the language of the one-half cent sales tax, which was last renewed in 2008.

The renewal proposition states the sum of $275,000 annually plus 25 percent of all net revenues derived from the tax should be used for the purposes of “constructing, improving, operating and maintaining jail facilities and minimum security facilities.”

LPSO uses the revenue, which Webre estimates to be $775,000 annually, to finance a portion of the operating costs, namely his officers’ salaries. None of the money is being set aside for a new jail, which would be given to the parish government.

Because the revenue does not adequately cover the operating expenses, the sheriff’s office is not required to set aside money for constructing, improving or maintaining the facilities, the sheriff said.

“The simple fact of the matter is that there is not enough dedicated funds being produced by that tax to cover the operational costs,” Webre said. “What we believe – our interpretation which is the same interpretation validated by the courts in the Wilson lawsuit back in the early ’90s – is that the operation of the jail is a bona fide expense that is consistent with the call, and that’s how we have chosen to expend those funds. It is absolutely legal, ethical and consistent with the [tax] dedication.”

The LPSO budget is not detailed enough to show how much revenue comes from the specific tax.

For the 2010 fiscal year, they projected nearly $16 million in total tax related revenues and $19.4 million in projected personal services and related benefits expenditures.

The parish president said citizens voted on a tax that would dedicate funds for the construction of a new jail but those funds are not being set aside.

“There is a clear understanding that if part of the tax is dedicated to those functions, then we should be getting that part of the tax,” Randolph said. “That part of the tax is not something that will pay for a new jail, but if we get $1 million a year and we’re setting aside $1.5 million, then there may be some offsets there and there may be an opportunity to find the money without going to the voters and say, ‘Give us another half penny or something like that.'”

Lafourche government currently pays for prisoner medical care and facility maintenance.

“I say when you go to the parish and the residents are being told on the ballot a portion of this money is to be dedicated to these things, are you not then fooling the public to be using it all for salaries?” Randolph asked.

“I don’t know how you can misinterpret those very definite words and only select one word out of there, which is operating. Do you ignore the rest of it?”

By law, the parish government is also required to maintain each of the nine sheriff office substations. Currently, LPSO has accepted some of this financial responsibility.

“Sometimes you can cut your nose off to spite your face,” Webre said. “The sheriff’s office, in addition to having a very high price tag for operating a jail, we have over the years taken on many additional financial responsibilities that are statutorily those of the parish.

“When I say you cut your nose off to spite your face by asking for something that you are not entitled to and pretending that you are, you may find that you poked the tiger one time too many, and rather than getting money that you don’t deserve, you’ll end up spending money that you’re obligated to spend.”

Randolph suggested a meeting with Webre on the issue could be forthcoming and she does not want to go to court over the issue.

The parish has been researching a new jail facility since 2005. The project was first derailed by Hurricane Katrina and more recently by problems stemming from the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20.

The current facility, which was built in 1968 and expanded in 1977, has had crowding issues since 1995. Both Randolph and Webre said a new jail is the parish’s top priority, but they are struggling to find funds to finance the project.