Parish government receives clean audit, and a warning

FRANKLIN — The St. Mary Parish government got generally good marks in its 2020 financial audit Wednesday, but with a warning about the financial future of its trash pickup and landfill program.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the council approved the parish’s 2021 combined and five-year capital outlay budgets; reluctantly approved a change order for an Amelia pump station project that is already past its original completion target; and introduced ordinances that would make stop sign changes in Amelia and Bayou Vista.
There was also evidence of tension among council members, when the council grappled with resolutions proposed by Councilman Craig Mathews to remove Dean Adams from the council chairmanship and to censure Councilman Mark Duhon (see related story).
More tension: Councilman James Bennett said he’s asking legal counsel Eric Duplantis about ways to limit the content of Parish Presi-dent David Hanagriff’s regular report to the council. Bennett said Hanagriff sometimes goes beyond a report and into a Hanagriff agenda.
“This is a Parish Council meeting, but it is the parish president’s report,” Hanagriff said in an interview Thursday. “Any attempt to censor it is inappro-priate, and I will fight it.”
Audit
The audit report by Pitts & Matte of Morgan City “expresses an unmodified opinion on the basic financial statements of the St. Mary Parish Council’s primary government.”
In other words, Guy Pitts told the council Wednesday, it’s a clean audit.
But Pitts waved a red flag about the parish’s landfill, sanitation and sewer construction operations, which are supported by a 0.75% sales tax.
Together, spending on those functions was about $1.6 million more than the revenue, Pitts said. Meanwhile, the parish has set aside only $4.4 million to cover the cost of closing the Harold J. “Babe” Landry Landfill near Berwick, when the liability incurred by the end of 2020 totaled $8.36 million.
The landfill is decades away from closing. But Pitts recommended a look at the tipping fees to make sure the parish accumulates enough money to close the landfill when the time comes.
“These are not immediate problems but looming problems …,” Pitts said. “A good analysis needs to be done.”
Also, Pitts said, the operating loss for the parish’s animal shelter was at $325,000 last year. Fees that once covered 60% of the operating costs paid for only 22% in 2020, he said.
The Atchafalaya at Idlewild Golf Course is by far the most effective recreational facility in the parish when it comes to raising operating funds by way of user fees. But the council might consider a fixed dedicated source of funding, Pitts said.
The audit report found a pair of “material weaknesses.”
The administration didn’t record some of the transactions related to $11.5 million in Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act project bonds and $3.9 million in other bonds.
The administration replied that the GOMESA bonds were sent directly to a paying agent, so they weren’t immediately entered in the parish books. In the future, all issuance of debt will be entered in the parish books in a timely way, the ad-ministration said.
The parish government also failed to properly record a $187,000 grant to the Atchafalaya Golf Course Commission, which the administration said was an oversight.
And the parish failed to amend the budget quickly enough when revenue fell 5% or more below the budgeted amount in individual funds, or when expenses exceeded the budget by more than 5% as required by law, the report said. The report recommended closer monitoring of the funds.
Pump station
The council approved the change order for the new pump station in Amelia, designed to improve flood-fighting capability. Contractor Ashley Savarino Unlimited Construction LLC of Metairie sought an additional $134,000 and another 76 days to in-stall sheet piles after a stubborn obstruction blocked the original plans.
The latest change or-der raises the contract price to about $2.5 mil-lion and, according to Robert Karam of consulting engineers T. Baker Smith, could extend the completion until mid-April.
“Another rainy season without the pump?” asked Councilman Duhon, who represents Amelia.
“I understand your frustration,” Karam said.
The change order approved Wednesday was the third for this project.
Stop signs
Councilman Scott Ramsey introduced ordinances that would remove a stop sign on Jupiter Street at Columbus and repealing the ordinance that creates a four-way stop at Saturn and Universe, leaving stop signs only on Saturn.
Duhon introduced ordinances calling for three-way stops at Barrow and Arnold and Barrow and Tommie.
Twenty days must elapse between the introduction of an ordinance and the final vote on passage.
New ordinances
Ordinances passed Wednesday prohibit boards and commissions from meeting on the same day as the Parish Council and require their members to be registered voters living in their districts.
Another ordinance passed Wednesday sets the salary of Council Clerk Lisa Morgan at $28.76 per hour.
Budget
The council voted to adopt the proposed combined budget and the five-year capital outlay budget for 2022.
As adopted Wednesday, the budget calls for general fund revenue of about $13.1 million and spending of $44,000 more than that, leaving a fund balance of $515,000.
The council also authorized the administration to enter an agreement for housing St. Mary Parish’s female jail inmates in the Iberia Parish jail. Chief Administrative Officer Henry C. “Bo” LaGrange said the prisoners will be housed at a rate of $16 per prisoner per day.
Female inmates had been housed at the Morgan City jail until Mayor Lee Dragna said the city was losing money on the transaction and asked for a higher rate than the parish was willing to pay.