T’bonne council nixes staff raise

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A pay increase to cover the cost of living for the Terrebonne Parish Council staff failed last week by a vote of 6-3 as the majority of council members felt it was “unfair” to other parish employees.

With the adoption of its 2014 budget, the council approved a 4 percent salary increase for the council staff at the end of last year.


The proposed 2 percent increase was intended to cover the rising cost of living in the parish, which would make for a total 6 percent increase within a month among council staffers.

Council members John Navy, Beryl Amedee and Pete Lambert voted in favor the ordinance at last Wednesday’s council meeting. Council members Arlanda Williams, Greg Hood Sr., Christa Duplantis-Prather, Russell Hornsby, Daniel Babin and Dirk Guidry voted against the salary increase.

 Williams said she voted against the salary increase because it lacked fairness across the board for all parish employees. 

“Our staff is a five-star staff, but I also believe that the workers of the Terrebonne Parish Government are the same,” Williams said at the meeting. “This would increase (their pay) by almost 6 percent. I can’t in good judgment (vote yes) knowing that the rest of the employees did not receive the same amount.

“We as a council set an example that we’re going to work clean across the board to make sure that everybody gets that type of raise,” she said. 

Duplantis-Prather agreed, saying all parish employees do an “exceptional job.” 


“It’s a team approach and it’s about taking care of everybody,” Duplantis-Prather said regarding her decision to vote against the salary increase. 

On the flip side, Amedee, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said an additional 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment was the least the council could do for its workers. 

 “Looking at the pay scale for each of our staff members, even with the 6 percent total increase, their salaries still fall in the middle of the range,” she said. “It doesn’t bring them to the top of their potential pay range that’s allowed by law.”

Amedee said sufficient funding existed to cover the 4 percent increase as well as the 2 percent increase without having to increase taxes or make significant decreases in any other portion of the council’s budget. 

Chief Financial Officer Jamie Elfert said the 4 percent increase cost the council clerk and staff budget $8,523 and the proposed 2 percent increase would have cost the budget $4,465. 

Parish employees who report to the parish president received approval for a 2 percent cost of living raise at the end of last year. However, employees of the parish council do not fall under the parish president’s direction, which left their cost-of-living raise up to parish council members at last week’s meeting. 


Parish Manager Al Levron said the cost-of-living increase for parish employees took effect with the first paycheck of 2014. He said the raises for parish workers cost the parish approximately $400,000.