Officials: Tax revenues fall in Lafourche, T’bonne

With the governments of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes in turmoil and their southern waters battered in oil, Parish Presidents Michel Claudet and Charlotte Randolph presented State of the Parish addresses last week.

“We have to find a way to be optimistic, and I think I’m going to need your help because it won’t be easy,” Randolph said to business leaders at a Lafourche Parish Chamber of Commerce breakfast. “The oil and gas industry is critical to this parish and this region and while there are many people in the community who have offered solutions to BP, it’s now time to sit and reflect how to make a bad situation a good one.”

But even though a federal judge lifted the deepwater oil-drilling moratorium last Tuesday, Randolph fears a new moratorium will commence in the near future.

“(Ken) Salazar said we’re going to push the pause button,” said Randolph. “He hit pause, but he hit stop. He hit eject. He hit every button out there.”

And because of the trickle down effect that comes from people losing jobs and not spending money due to the moratorium, Claudet said he and his administration began preparing for the worst from day one.

“Right after the moratorium was in place, we met with the school board, hospital, utilities, local business leaders, assessors and the sales tax office to try to prepare for what could happen,” said Claudet at the second highest attended Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce luncheon in the past three years.

With a noticeable decrease in sales and property taxes in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Randolph said President Barack Obama’s administration has made her feel like her people are expendable.

“We’ve sent many letters to the president – not sure they were all read, because some of the stories people are telling me are very compelling and very serious,” said Randolph.

She even added Obama may be pushing the moratorium to further his cap and trade legislation.

“That’s disturbing,” said Randolph. “MMS and federal inspectors came out and inspected the rigs after the explosion. This is a re-inspection… It’s just dragging out for a political agenda.”

But local leaders can take solace in the great amount of boom deployed in the lower ends of their parishes.

Terrebonne Parish has deployed 186,562 feet of boom, the third most out of any parish in the state.

Lafourche has deployed 78,100 feet, and Randolph said the parish has made the best use of what it has received in order to keep its drinking water safe.

“In the Leeville area, we’ve had sorbent boom at every one of the culverts that leads into Bayou Lafourche, and we have not had any oiling of those booms,” said Randolph. “That’s very encouraging, because that means the oil has not reached any part of Bayou Lafourche.”

Randolph added the intake station is 45 miles north of the mouth of the bayou, so oil will have to travel quite a far distance to cause a problem to drinking water.

But quality of drinking water is a concern to Terrebonne Parish as well.

“They are taking water sampling in the lower parts of the parish in a number of areas to make sure our water and everything else is safe,” said Claudet. “And they’re doing environmental quality sampling daily offshore and onshore, and they have cleaning that has taken place.”

With two claims offices in Terrebone Parish and one in Lafourche Parish, Randolph encourages all residents affected by the oil spill to make a claim through BP.

“Don’t be proud. Don’t be squeamish about taking money,” said Randolph. “Your life has been impacted, and I think anyone and everyone who has felt some hurt and economic injury should drop by that office and make a claim without hesitation.”