Dist. 1 allocation tabled until parish budget workshops held

An allocation request from the St. Mary Parish Council’s Dist. 1 councilman was met with worries Wednesday.
In short, Councilman Craig Mathews requested $150,000 from the Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10 3/10th sales tax fund to construct a pavilion at Sorrel Community Park.
Mathews also accused councilmembers of discussing his request by telephone prior to Wednesday’s session. He said he has “made it a point to not lobby against items that other councilmembers may put on the agenda” because he believes it is illegal and circumvents discussion at the actual meeting.
He noted there was a resolution passed by the former St. Mary Parish Police Jury on Jan. 26, 1983 that set the election creating the 3/10th sales, to support improving services in rural areas in those wards specified.
Mathews said since then there has been an unofficial agreement that district councilmen were “given the benefit of the doubt” in tapping into the funds for needs.
“Granted, $150,000 seems like a lot of money, but it is available in the 3/10th budget,” Mathews said. He said in conference with the parish administration he had already planned to move funds from other line items, again noting that “prior to previous notions being already determined, that would have been understood.”
Capital improvements have been made on other facilities in Dist. 1, and Mathews said suspending further outlay would help fund the needs at the Sorrel park. The committee of residents that use the park agreed that the pavilion was their top choice.
Dist. 1’s share of the 3/10th fund is currently $152,899, estimated to the end of the year. The entire fund for all districts is estimated at $348,925.
But estimated ending fund balance is $301,715 for the entire account, and $140,075 for Dist. 1.
Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said moving funds from other facilities would best be accomplished with budget amendments in the late summer budget sessions.
Parish President David Hanagriff said though he has discussed items on the agenda with other councilmen prior to a meeting, “It doesn’t mean you’re soliciting a vote, that’s wrong, but discussing it and having concerns about it is completely different.”
Other council members denied discussing the request in advance.
Hanagriff said Mathews is “almost putting the cart before the horse” and agreed that the budget sessions would be an appropriate time to take up the matter, as well as seek grants and other funding sources.
The Dist. 1 fund would have $17,000 left if the allocation is approved with moving of funds from the other line items, based on estimated sales tax collections through the end of year.
Councilman Dale Rogers suggested seeking estimates to get a closer dollar figure for the pavilion in calculating actual cost.
Council President Kevin Voisin said he’d like to see grants pursued and revisit the proposal at budget time.
And Councilman Patrick Hebert noted that Dist. 2 is nearly $50,000 in the red. “That’s coming out of one of ya’ll accounts, I assume, somebody has to pay for that,” he said. “Who else is out there to cover this? That concerns me. I can’t ask these other (councilmen) to give up their money.”
Mathews agreed to Rogers’ suggestion to set aside funds for a study of the cost of construction, and further address the allocation at the budget workshop sessions. He tabled his motion.