Jail woes continue in Lafourche Parish with tax on hold – for now

Charmaine McDurmon
May 11, 2011
Anthony Valure Jr.
May 13, 2011
Charmaine McDurmon
May 11, 2011
Anthony Valure Jr.
May 13, 2011

The growing certainty that the Lafourche Parish new jail committee would place a sales tax proposition on the October gubernatorial primary election ballot was stymied last week as Parish President Charlotte Randolph voiced her opposition to the idea.


Randolph, citing concerns about the lingering effects of the moratorium and a sobering, private conversation with the parish’s tax assessor, said the parish would be well-served to wait until next year, when the affects of the oil spill and subsequent moratorium on drilling more than one year ago are better known.


“I really think that this is not the best time to put a tax measure onto the ballot,” she said. “As fuel prices increase, people are paying not only more at the pump, but they’re also paying more at the grocery store. I just have this uneasy feeling that what we’re asking of the voters and the taxpayers of the parish would be difficult for them.”

Randolph said Michael Martin, the parish’s tax assessor, informed her of specific vessels that have left for foreign waters, with the stalled deepwater permitting process as the reason.


Randolph’s stance was the strongest against an October proposition thus far. Aside from the economic concerns, she pointed at failed tax measures in Tangipahoa Parish last month as an indicator that increased taxation is being rebuffed.


“Plus, in Tangipahoa Parish, it was a school bond issue, which, kind of, is generally the easiest ones to pass because it’s for the education of the children,” she said. “Eighty-seven percent of the voters said, ‘No,’ so that’s a pretty clear message that they’re sending.”

Tangipahoa introduced separate measures that would increase the property tax millage. The first would have increased the rate by 17 to compensate for a $120 million bond debt over 30 years to be used for school land and facilities, and the second was a proposed 10-mill levy to provide for school operations and maintenance. Both failed with a 60-percent margin.


For an 800-bed facility, the parish would be looking at an approximately $72-million service commitment over 30 years, according to figures presented at the last meeting by Stephens Public Finance.


Committee members have stressed that they need adequate time to “educate the public” on the issue in order to help facilitate its passage and elimination notions that the parish is trying to sneak the measure in on a crowded ballot.

Four of the committee’s seven members will be campaigning for re-election in October.


Its members have also expressed caution about carelessly rushing the process.

According to a timeline issued by Scott Crawford, managing partner of Crawford-Lewis, which serves as bond counsel to the parish, the parish council would have to approve the proposition by its June 7 meeting for inclusion on the October ballot.

If the proposition were to be voted down by the public in October, it could still reappear in March of 2012.

The committee, facing the urgency of building a new jail before a federal mandate is handed down, once again participated in a meeting that saw no developments in the parish’s quest for a new jail. The committee approved two measures: canceling the May 18 meeting and changing the start time of all subsequent meetings from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The committee has yet to tour other facilities as a group or decide on the amount of beds or a design strategy.

“If we don’t do this, if we don’t build a jail, the court system could shut us down,” committee member and District 1 Councilman Jerry Jones said. He later recommended that the committee postpone introducing the tax measure until the election scheduled on March 10, 2012.

Maj. Marty Dufrene, head of corrections with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, firmed up the law enforcement stance that an 800-bed facility is the ultimate 30-year goal. It needs to be decided what means will be used to achieve that end.

“Do we build 600 now and add 200 in four years, five years? Is that going to be a little more expensive? Or do we build 800 now, at the present-day prices? These are all questions and none of us have a crystal ball in front of us to answer them,” Dufrene said.

The committee, still waiting on the results of an infrastructure assessment on the current facility that would reveal to what extent it could be used in conjunction with a new one, cancelled the May 18 meeting.

Crystal Chiasson, the parish administrator, said the parish is meeting with the groups that will conduct the assessment on Monday, May 16, and the process should take a couple of weeks.

The Lafourche Parish New Jail Committee discussed the merits of postponing a sales tax measure until the March 2012 ballot at its last meeting and cancelled its May 18 meeting last week. ERIC BESSON