Parish Council passes budget, tables Hanagriff appointment

FRANKLIN — Months of work came down to a pair of votes Wednesday, when the St. Mary Parish Council approved a 2023 budget without objection.

Also Wednesday, at a meeting advanced a week for the holidays, the council decided to seek the attorney general’s guidance on whether Parish President David Hanagriff can accept an appointment to a water and sewer commission.

Budget

The 2023 spending plan anticipates no major changes in services or personnel.

General fund revenue is expected to bring in about $10.9 million. The biggest single source of income will be taxes, expected to bring in about $3.5 million.

The council anticipates spending $10.39 million from the general fund, including about $7.5 million in expenditures for general government.

When all the parish government funds are taken into account, the parish government balanced its budget using $1.6 million of a $2.1 million beginning fund balance, leaving a reserve of $530,000.

Councilman the Rev. Craig Matthews, who chairs the councils Budget Committee, said unexpected expenses arose related to the operation of the parish jail and the parish’s portion of funding for the District Attorney’s Office and the 16th Judicial District Court.

“Those are all things we’re required to fund,” Mathews said.

The state of the parish’s fund balance “is a concern,” he said.

“It’s very important for our constituents to know that so they know how lean it is. This is not an easy task. We’re making the adjustments required to do more with less.”

The council also passed its five-year capital outlay budget. On the agenda for 2023 are:

—Repairs on the Sorrel, Katy, Chatsworth, Centerville, Rizzo and Jennings bridges, $1.8 million.

—Patching and overlaying James Street, $222,600.

—Microsurfacing Ralph Darden Memorial Parkway, $636,000.

—Concrete roadway improvements on Duhon Boulevard between La. 182 and Degravelle Road, $500,000. This money will come from funds generated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.

—A pavilion, fishing pier and a hard-surface access road at the Fontenot Boat Launch, $1,075,000. This money will come from federal RESTORE Act funds.

—Docks and an expanded concrete apron at Quintana Boat Launch, $665,000 from RESTORE Act funds.

Commission
appointment

Hanagriff was one of two candidates listed on Wednesday’s agenda for a single vacancy on St. Mary Water and Sewer Commission No. 3, which extends from unincorporated areas near Patterson to the Garden City area. The other candidate is Bart Lange.

Former Parish Councilman Peter Soprano returned to the lectern from which, at the Nov. 30 meeting, he accused Hanagriff of pitting council members against one another. On Wednesday, he said Hanagriff has been trying to bully or discourage other potential candidates from seeking the water and sewer commission post.

Soprano said that during his 2000-08 council tenure, the council received legal guidance saying an elected official could not legally serve in an appointed post at the same time.

He asked the council to extend the application deadline and order Hanagriff to stop bullying candidates.

Hanagriff went to the lectern and denied trying to discourage anyone from applying to the post. He said the commission runs a good organization and he wants to be part of it.

“It’s clear that Mr. Soprano has personal issues with me,” Hanagriff said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

The council tabled the agenda item until it can ask the state Attorney General’s Office whether Hanagriff is allowed to serve on the commission while he is still parish president. Hanagriff is term-limited and can’t be re-elected after his term expires in January 2024.