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Menard vetoes budget
President Don Menard has vetoed the new parish budget that would have gone into effect Jan. 1.
"There were a couple of funds I was not comfortable with. I have also been asked by some of the new council members to reconsider some items," Menard said.
Only five of the current 13 council members were re-elected this year, meaning Menard will be working with a largely new council starting in January."Due to the fact that eight new council members will be sworn in beginning in January, it is my belief that the new council members should have an opportunity to review the proposed 2008 budget," Menard said.
He said, because the budget was adopted by the council earlier this year, he also has received requests from several parish agencies for major capital improvements that need to be considered.
Operating without a formal budget for the first month or two of the year should not be a serious problem. The parish operated without a formal budget for the first six months of this year.
The Home Rule Charter, which took effect in 2004, requires the parish president to formulate the budget each year and the parish council to approve that budget.
Should the two disagree, the charter says the parish will operate with the previous year's budget until a compromise is reached.
While Menard submitted the budget repeatedly, it was just as repeatedly tabled each month by the council for one reason or another.
There were no real disagreements between the president and the council with the numbers. All the objections were procedural.
At the time, Menard argued these many objections were simply a way for the council to show its authority. Under the former police jury system, each of the parish's 13 jurors had complete authority and a great deal of power within his own district.
Under the current parish council system, much of that authority is now in the hands of the parish president. The majority of the current council previously served as police jurors.
"This is just a way for them to show their authority. Some members of the council just like having that authority," Menard said at the time.
While the parish collects about $12 million-a-year in taxes, fees and other income, more than 70 percent of that is pass-through money - money used to fund the sheriff's office, the district attorney's office, the clerk of courts office and so on. That money also is used to fund such items as the parish jail and courts system.
When all such pass-through funds, over which the parish has no authority, are deducted, the parish actually has only about $3 million to spend on everything else.