Laf. council, library remain at odds

Contention between Lafourche Parish Government officials and Library officials has ratcheted up in recent weeks as some parish councilmen and administrators eye library revenue as a means to solve urgent parish woes.

“Something’s not right,” Councilman and New Jail Committee Chairman Lindel Toups said near the end of a lengthy discussion at last week’s council meeting concerning library finances. “I know y’all can afford to cut (revenue).”

At the heart of the debate are the utilization of tax dollars, the necessity for a library contingency fund and, to a lesser degree, the juxtaposition of quality-of-life features against pressing issues, such as a new jail and a bolstered flood-protection system.

The library system has opened seven new libraries while relying on a 6.37 parish-wide property-tax millage. The last project – a new library in Thibodaux – opened in February, ending the capital-outlay burden. The property-tax calls brought in $4.4 million in 2010.

Suzanna LeBouef, the system’s director, said the system has $10.7 million on hand. More than half of that amount, $5.4 million, will be spent on regular expenditures by the end of the year, she said. The rest would serve as a contingency fund the system would also draw from as officials work to enhance library offerings.

The system has delayed implementing new technology, such as e-readers and e-books, during the construction process, LeBouef said, and new vehicles and more staffers are also needed.

Fifty-one percent of the library system’s budgeted expenditures are dedicated toward salaries, according to LeBouef.

The system has 67 employees: Seven have a master’s degree in library science and two more have master’s degrees in other subjects; 16 other employees hold undergraduate degrees in various subjects.

The system plans to hire two more librarians, LeBouef said.

“In order to have a progressive library system, you need to have employees who have degrees,” the system director said. “In order to hire a librarian, you have to be competitive,” she continued, alluding to the approximate $40,000 entry-level salary librarians with master’s degrees in library science command.

LeBouef reasoned that technological advances and staffing increases would help the parish’s library system meet state standards and thus entice current and prospective residents to live in Lafourche.

The prospective library millage shuffling is another layer to a number to tax-related issues in Lafourche. Officials continue to work on proposals for funding a new jail and drainage improvements, and the parish’s garbage-collection fund may need tax assistance, as well.

“Good thing we don’t have state standards on drainage, because we’d be way behind,” Councilman Phillip Gouaux told LeBouef. “We cannot continue to burden the taxpayers with these types of millages, these expenses.”

Gouaux has frequently spoken in favor of increasing revenue for parish drainage issues. North Lafourche Conservation, Levee and Drainage District commissioners have discussed the possibility of placing a one-cent sales tax proposition on a future ballot.

NLCLDD Director Dwayne Bourgeois was noncommittal on when, or if, the proposition would be placed on a ballot, saying the district wanted to exhaust all potential revenue streams before doing so.

Gouaux also said the parish’s Solid Waste Fund – which pays for garbage and debris collection – may need more revenue. He has previously expressed concern that the fund does not have enough of a surplus to pay for debris collection in the event of a hurricane.

The council has the power to impose up to three-tenths of a cent in sales tax to resuscitate the Solid Waste Fund. Lafourche voters originally approved the tax at a full cent in 1986, but the council scaled it back in 1997 when the fund had a $17 million surplus.

The parish is auditing the Solid Waste Fund, a process that won’t be complete for at least six weeks, parish spokesman Logan Banks said. Finance officials anticipate a balance of $1.4 million at the end of 2011, Banks said, but this can’t be confirmed until the audit is complete.

Tax collection for that fund through the first two months of this year – the latest available figures – show that the collection pace lags behind last year.

The parish collected $1 million through February, a 6.8 percent decrease from the same time last year but a 9.4 percent increase from the same time in 2010, when talk of the fund began to resurface during council meetings.

In the case of library funding, Lafourche voters have the power to rededicate property tax mills, which are currently valued at about $725,000 a year. The council would first have to approve placing a referendum on a ballot.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph said after the meeting she would like to see any rededicated mills be used to support constructing a new jail. The parish has worked for years to replace its antiquated and crowded facility, but has not gone public with what such a facility would look like, including the number of beds or the cost.

Councilman Daniel Lorraine praised the library board for opening seven new facilities “without bonding out a nickel.”

“I don’t understand why everyone’s after the library board,” Lorraine said. “They need to be congratulated.”

Jerry Lafont, a first-term councilman, said the library has overextended itself and thus created a reliance on tax revenue. He said residents would consider taxes before library amenities when deciding where they want to live.

“Now’s the time to tighten everybody’s belt,” Lafont said.

The library system is in the process of crafting a five-year budget plan. Finance Director Ryan Friedlander, Councilman Aaron Caillouet and newly hired internal auditor Tommy Lasseigne are working with library officials to complete this task.

“We’ll get our heads together and present some sort of plan for the council,” Caillouet said.