Laf. rejects revenue swap for new jail

Lafourche Parish voters rejected by an 8-point margin a proposal to reroute a portion of the parish library system’s property-tax revenue toward construction of a new detention center.

The measure failed by a 4,601-to-3,958 vote (54-46 percent) count, according to complete but unofficial results released by the Secretary of State.

“Obviously, we are very excited that the people of Lafourche Parish chose to continue to support their libraries,” said Laura Sanders, director of the parish library system. “We work very hard to provide service, and we’re excited that the people of Lafourche realize that’s what we do and voted for us. We will continue to provide services that we have been known for.”

Proposed was the rededication of 1 mill, estimated to bring in more than $800,000 in 2014, for 30 years. It would have been supplemented with $600,000 in parish funds annually to cover bond obligations to build a new jail.

Had it been approved, 2.8 of the remaining 5.8 mills collected by the library system would have also been extended for 30 years.

The parish council placed the measure on the ballot with a 5-3 vote in August. In favor were councilmen Michael Delatte, Aaron Caillouet, Joe Fertitta, Phillip Gouaux and Council Chairman Lindel Toups. Councilmen John Arnold, Jerry LaFont and Daniel Lorraine opposed the initiative. Councilman Jerry Jones was absent.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph could not be reached for comment on Monday. She issued a statement Saturday night via email:

“When the (Lafourche Parish Council) Legislative Internal Auditor Tommy Lasseigne proposed the Rededication of library funds last year to partially fund a new detention center, the Council concurred. The vote today indicated that the voters of Lafourche did not agree. As the public’s safety is the most important issue for parish government, nothing will change as a result of today’s vote. 24/7/365, we will continue to work with the (Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office), the (district attorney) and the courts to protect Lafourche.”

The existing detention center is overcrowded, and its deteriorated state makes it unfit to comfortably house inmates, a right that particularly applies to pre-trial suspects not yet convicted of a crime, according to the proposal’s advocates. The facility is also plagued by infrastructural woes, and the cramped quarters pose a threat to guards, officials have said.

The jail can hold 244 prisoners. As of Monday, 336 inmates were on the detention center’s online roster. Overflow detainees are shipped to facilities out of parish through contracts the council has approved; this comes at a higher cost to the parish.

State law holds parish governments responsible for maintaining a “good and sufficient jail.”

Toups, who also served as chair of the “New Jail Committee,” was vocal in his support of redirecting the existing property taxes. He sold the measure as a way to replace the jail without raising taxes on citizens. Toups could not be reached for comment on Monday.

The parish’s library system inflicted spending cuts on itself during a massive capital expansion campaign buoyed by the 6.8 property-tax mills, Sanders pointed out. This prudency resulted in the system having an $8.2 million fund balance at the end of 2012.

Now that new construction projects have ceased, the system aims to increase its operating expenses to get in line with state library standards. The library board-approved 2014 budget is a 16 percent increase from 2013, draws $1.6 million from the reserve fund. Should the spending plan be enacted as passed, the system would have a $4 million fund balance at the end of the year, according to the budget.

Sanders said the parish’s voter supported the library system because of its track record.

“I think the fact that we’ve been good stewards of our money, that we provide essential services, that we’re a community hub, I think all of that helped us” in invigorating the library’s supporters, Sanders said.

After months of pointed debate, the library-jail tax swap brought 15.1 percent of the parish’s registered voters out, 12 points less than the parish presidential runoff in November 2011. The national presidential election in November 2012 drew 68.6 percent of Lafourche’s registered voters to the polls.

In Ward 10, which encompasses much of the parish around and south of Larose, voters rejected the proposition by a 30-percent margin, 65-35. The tally was 1,100 against to 584 in favor, a difference of 516.

Lorraine, who represents much of Ward 10 and campaigned against the rededication, said the vote had less to do with library funding than how long the tax call would have been enshrined – 30 years.

Lorraine said he would support and, possibly, introduce a plan to tax property at a new rate of 1.5 mills. He said he hopes it will share the ballot with congressional races a year from now.

AMBULANCE TAX EXTENDED

Central Lafourche voters overwhelmingly extended an 8-mill ad valorem tax to pay for the district’s ambulance services.

The proposition passed by a 2,074-to-598 vote (78-22 percent). Turnout was 16.5 percent.

Owners of homestead-exempt property assessed at $150,000 will continue to pay $60 on their tax bill toward ambulance services. The tax will generate an estimated $1 million in revenue each year for the next decade.

Revenue is used to contract Acadian Ambulance, a private company.

Voters created the district in 1983. The tax was last extended in 2003, and it is scheduled to sunset Dec. 31.

Lafourche rejects new jailFILE PHOTO