PC budget hearing held Wed.

A budget hearing was held Wednesday by the St. Mary Parish Council in advance of adopting next year’s financial and capital outlay budgets.
Councilman J Ina questioned several line items for maintenance of machinery and equipment for the parish. Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange explained that those funds are utilized for various needs in parish machinery and equipment, often in-house, and a stock of replacement parts. Rental of equipment is also included when needed.
Ina said he had concerns, particularly in raises for employees. “My appeal going forward is for us to start taking a look at some of the operational practices,” he said. “Maybe by some point in time we can take a look at the expenditures on maintenance…some of the equipment is antiquated, some of the stuff is put in the shop. We may want to look at possibly leasing equipment or changing that operation.”
He added that some employees “don’t get paid” as similar workers in the private sector, and he urged treating them appropriately.
LaGrange added, in answer to a question from Ina, that merit raises haven’t been given over the last three years, though employees who move up or assume more responsibilities are compensated accordingly.
He added that employees are still being evaluated.
Councilman James Bennett said, “These hard-working parish employees, we can’t even give them merit raises, we can’t afford it. But we give all this money away to everybody else (requesting parish funding for non-parish functions). That’s money we could be passing on to parish employees. Let’s take care of our own.”
The parish likely expends more than a quarter million in non-parish allocations, CFO Paul Governale said.
Committee Chairman Councilman Craig Mathews said there should be an application process that is competitive and have them reviewed by a panel, and award on certain criteria.
Councilman Gabriel Beadle noted that those allocations probably amount to only 2% of the total parish budget. “I don’t think that’s much money,” he said.