The Evangeline Parish Police Jury

December 28, 2015

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held a Special Meeting tonight in the Courthouse.  It was “Budget Night” and plenty of discussions were had.  The Jury voted to adopt the 2015 Budget Amendments as well as the 2016 Budgets.  As the Jury moved through the Agenda, discussions turned to the Budget for the Evangeline Communications District.  Police Jurors, Bryan Vidrine, and Lamar Johnson were very vocal about items on the Budget including the Salaries portion which was approximately $320,000.00.  Both questioned the amount of employees that the figure represented.  They also questioned the Office Supplies portion of the Budget and stated it seemed “very off”.  Secretary-Treasurer, Donald Bergeron, stated he did not have all of the information he needed but that the Salaries portion represented 5 employees and explained that the Communications District pays part of that to the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office for dispatchers.  It was noted that part of the monies from the Office Supplies portion represents items needed for the new facility in Industrial Park.  Police Juror, Eric Soileau, noted that the Budget had already been presented to the Board and was approved.  He stated he did not feel comfortable with telling a Board that has been operating for 20 years that they “don’t know how to run their office.”  KVPI News has reached out to the Board and will update you when clarification is given.  The Jury voted to “table” a vote until its next meeting when Donald Bergeron can provide more detailed information.

A public hearing has been scheduled before the next meeting for adding an Ordinance requiring all businesses to be up-to-date on all sales tax remittance before renewing or approving any occupational licenses or permits including liquor permits.

January 12^th at 6:00 p.m. will be the Jury’s next meeting where Police Jurors will be sworn into another term.  We will have a follow-up story tomorrow regarding further agenda items, changes at Crooked Creek and Chicot State Park.