St. Bernard Parish to hold three meetings on proposed 2013 budget

St. Bernard Parish Council members next week will hold three town hall meetings to discuss the proposed 2013 budget that will depend heavily on two Dec. 8 ballot measures and the outcome of a pending court case.

St. Bernard Parish Council members next week will hold three town hall meetings to discuss a proposed 2013 budget that will depend heavily on two Dec. 8 ballot measures and the outcome of a pending court case. The meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Council Chambers, 8201 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette.

St. Bernard Parish Council Chambers Benjamin Alexander-Bloch

The two Dec. 8 ballot proposals -- 20 mills for fire services, and a freeing up of the 1/2 cent sanitation sales tax -- could generate millions of dollars for the cash-strapped parish. The 20 mills would bring in about $6 million for fire services, while the rededication of the parish's sanitation sales tax would allow the parish to use  the roughly $3.3 million a year from the half-cent tax for other parish services such as community development, recreation, public works, mosquito control and road lighting.

But, that rededication of the sanitation tax only would work if the parish could instead begin charging residents for garbage services. And whether or not the parish can charge residents a fee for parish services is now a pending question in the local courts.

In August, the Parish Council passed a $32 fee to cover Fire Department operations -- which parish officials say is the largest drain on the parish budget, operating at a $5.5 million annual loss. The fee began in September last month and only will continue through December. It is anticipated to bring in between $1.5 million and $2 million for those four months.

But a lawsuit filed by Peter Rupp, an Arabi resident who lost a runoff for a Parish Council seat by 16 votes last fall, alleges that monthly fee is unconstitutional and has asked for an injunction. Depending on the outcome of that suit - and likely its multiple appeals - the parish might have to return the collected fees and the judgment also might set a precedent as to whether the parish can impose similar fees in the future.

The parish administration has said that the current deficits largely are due to decreasing sales tax revenue in part due to an end to disaster recovery work -- from Hurricane Katrina to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill -- that brought a flood of work into the parish and thus increased sales at local business.

The original 2012 budget passed by the Parish Council last year initially predicted about $21 million sales tax revenue whereas current predictions are $15 million. Next month, the Parish Council will address additional proposed cuts for the current year that likely will help define the hole for the coming year.

At its last meeting, on Oct. 16, the Parish Council passed an ordinance allowing the parish to take out a $5 million bond in case the parish needs to fill any budget holes by year's end. Last week, the state bond commission agreed to give the parish $3 million of "Revenue Anticipation Notes in order for the Parish to maintain operations, with the remaining $2,000,000 contingent upon receipt and verification of the Parish Council budget for fiscal year ending December 31, 2013," according to the Bond Commission's Oct. 18 meeting's minutes.