Bayou Vista residents want to know what happened to half a million

BAYOU VISTA — Some residents here want their own accounting system from St. Mary Parish government, along with $500,000 they say was promised to them by the parish president but later pulled by their own parish councilman.
Roughly 40 Bayou Vista residents were all ears Tuesday when Andrée Hebert, a concerned citizen of the area, opened a town hall meeting she began promoting shortly after New Year’s Day. The meeting was to address water, sewer and drainage issues, along with the removal of $500,000 that St. Mary Parish President Sam Jones had allocated to Bayou Vista for drainage and sewer issues.
The money was later removed by Parish Councilman David Hill of Bayou Vista, who said he was baffled because Jones could ignore much smaller budget requests from himself and another colleague, but yet could find $500,000 for Bayou Vista, while saying the parish was tight on funds and nearly broke.
Hill later stressed he could put the money back in the budget if he were presented with a strong need for the area.
But Hebert said the money removal from the parish budget was the final straw in what she believes is a series of developments in parish government, where “there is a huge unwillingness among leaders to understand real issues. I don’t know if that is intentional, as I think it could be a lack of understanding on their part.
“But in summary, we’re dealing with a very archaic accounting system and parish charter, as well as power grabs, and the results of many past handshake gentlemen’s agreements.”
Hebert began following the Parish Council in January 2025, after her daughter’s car took on water during a storm while it was parked in her driveway.
“That was the spark that caused me to wake up and wonder what is really going on with the parish drainage, among other issues,” she said.
However, when the money was stripped from the budget, she became irate, leading her to call a town hall meeting at the Bayou Vista Civic Center, not only to air her issues about parish government but to gather information from fellow neighbors and citizens.
“I believe Sam Jones allocated that money from the 0.3% sales tax because of his awareness of the failing infrastructure of the drainage and sewage in Bayou Vista, because no capital outlay projects have been carried forth in nearly 20 years.
“And in relation to the Wards 5 and 8 Sewage Commission and its financial woes, while I don’t think Jones’ allocation of the money was specifically for them, I think it was allocated for the infrastructure needs that impact that commission’s ability to process our sewage.”
The Sewage Commission imposed a rate increase on Berwick and Patterson residents, and board members are considering another rate hike to help deal with an aging system.
Tuesday night, Hebert opened the meeting first thanking those who attended, but then pointed to the parish and council, for being oblivious to infrastructure issues in Bayou Vista, while running the parish like “a bloated police jury.”
The meeting ended with Lindsey Anslem, a St. Mary School Board member and another Bayou Vista resident, reciting a list of the major issues that were discussed at the meeting, the top two being that Bayou Vista tax revenues be separated and placed in a separate checking account with public transparency on where that money is allocated, and a reallocation of the $500,000 promised by Jones, to Bayou Vista drainage woes.
Dr. Kristi Prejeant Rink, a St. Mary Parish Councilwoman at-large, said she will place those two items on the Parish Council agenda, for their first meeting of the year on Jan. 14. A majority of the council would have to approve both items for them to pass.
Rink agreed with the audience that the parish accounting of tax receivables and expenditures needs a lot of transparency and work. But it suffers from a huge problem: It’s too swollen with wants and needs.
“Some of the tax calls on how the various taxes are collected and allocated need to be rewritten, to be more specific,” she said. But it would call for public approval in order to be changed and approval from the Parish Council to call an election for such purposes.
Councilman At-Large Dean Adams of Morgan City said a good example of an improper tax call is the parish 0.3% sales tax revenue.
“Every area of this parish needs its own checking account of this money. And the allocations are based on population,” Adams said.
But Hill said parish administration will never agree to that because the parish is using that money for payroll and other administrative needs. He said he has presented different issues to the Parish Council and has been told no.
Also, he said all of the 0.3% tax money that is collected is placed into the parish general fund, which is another problem.
Rink stressed to the audience that they read all of the tax calls.
“The tax calls say what we can spend the money for, but they don’t say who can spend it. It’s an accounting issue on the administrative side.
“We as a council see the big line items the money is spent on, and it is spent appropriately. The problem is the money has never been deducted appropriately and there has always been an IOU written when money was taken, when it should have been a line-item deduction.
“The easiest way to fix this problem is to start this year, and wipe the fund balance for the sales tax money to zero. We need to start fresh.”
Councilwoman At-Large Gwendolyn Hidalgo, who represents Bayou Vista as part of her district, was also present at the meeting, but stood in the back of the room and did not speak.
So was Amelia Councilman Mark Duhon, whose district is the only part of the parish that maintains a fixed portion of the 0.3% sales tax. This was created when the tax was originally brought up for a vote by his father, T-Shoo Duhon, and it was permanently marked to have a portion of its proceeds dedicated for Amelia Recreation, according to Adams.
Chad Ross, chairman and co-chairman of two drainage districts that encompass Bayou Vista, said he has four shovel-ready projects to fix problems, but doesn’t have a majority of the money needed for most of them, because the costs are into the millions.
He said that nine years ago, a pump station was built for Bayou Vista, but when it was designed, there was flaw and it never acted right. So for nine years, the drainage board has been in litigation to get it right.
“This year we were able to settle the lawsuit and come to an agreement to get the funding we need to get that pump station 100% operational,” he said.
“We’ve had problems in Bayou Vista for a long time. I spoke with the fire chief. Every time it rains, he has to shut down part of Bayou Vista, because there is water in the streets.
“Another problem is that the infrastructure under our roadways is old, and it was never designed or engineered to hold the amount of concrete we have today, Walmart and these other area buildings. It was never designed for this.
“The problem is money. You can’t get emergency money if there’s no emergency. As long as water is not getting in your house, the federal government tells us y’all are doing your job and you don’t need our money.
“But I’ve met with our parish president and our state law makers, we are working tirelessly to get money.”
Ross said he received news from state Sen. Robert Allain, R-Franklin, who is close to receiving an appropriation of an annual $3 million from the state, for all of St. Mary Parish to use for drainage.
“This is good news, but the money will be for all of St. Mary Parish, so needs will have to be justified.”
Ross said the believes the Bayou Vista pump station should be fixed by the end of this summer.
Also, he said the Bayou Vista drainage district meets at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of every month at the mini golf course and invited the audience to attend and participate.
Rachel Joubert, another Bayou Vista resident, said she is losing her property every time it rains, and needs to fight flood waters with sandbags. She also questions prior areas where the parish has dug for ditch locations.
“If Morgan City can get millions of dollars to get fixed, why can’t we?” Joubert asked.
Parish Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews, who represents the Four Corners area, also spoke to the audience.
“The challenge we’re having right now is that we have a parish president who would like you to believe that he is the only person who can fix problems, and that we as a council do not get along.
“If we feel that the allocation of $500,000 will serve a purpose for drainage in the Bayou Vista area, then it will receive six votes,” he said.