There will be a special called meeting of the Ruston City Council tonight (Tuesday, April 30), 5:30 PM, Ruston City Hall, 401 North Trenton.
…Declaring an Emergency Per La. R.S. 38:2211(5) and Authorizing City to Enter into Agreements and Contracts for Reconstruction and Repairs to Facilities of the City.
Here’s the agenda.
The City of Ruston is delinquent on over $10 thousand in taxes owed on several parcels of land that are on the property tax rolls, according to documents from the Lincoln Parish Tax Collector’s Office.
Additionally, an $18 thousand tax bill on five hangers at the Ruston Regional Airport was paid three months late, resulting in an additional cost of $2,200 in fees and interest.
See here the document – 292 Aviation Blvd.
The other properties and the taxes owed are:
1409 Campbell St – $293.24
1814 Celebrity Dr – $960.77
2505 S Vienna St – $9,015.34
1300 Campbell St – $324.07
1304 Campbell St – $199.44
The Campbell St properties are located off Farmerville Hwy behind the RaceWay gas station. Those properties are to be a part of the North Service Road East re-route, when/if the project is funded.
The South Vienna property is the site of the former Campus Community Assembly of God Church, and is now being utilized as an office for Womack and Sons Construction Group.
A planned junket to Las Vegas for the annual National Association of Counties (NACO) convention by some Lincoln Parish Police Jury members has run up against budget constraints.
The revelation came at last night’s meeting of the jury, during the monthly budget review.
Parish Treasurer Holly Lowry noted that over $6600 of the $10 thousand budgeted for travel had already been spent in the first three months of the year.
Said Lowry, “That money (the $6600) is made up of $2400 for police jury conference registration at the state conference and $3900 on travel. There are three jurors who are attending NACO, and the projected cost for their registration and hotel is $4700, which will take that line item over budget. Historically, the police jury has said that once we’ve spent the budget amount, the people are on their own for those costs.”
“Last year, we only had one or two jurors attend the state convention, whereas this year we had six. So that skews the cost higher than what we had spent last year. As a jury, you guys are going to need to decide whether to amend the budget – you don’t have to decide it tonight – but whether to amend the budget, or to have the jurors that are going to NACO travel on their own.”
“Estimated cost of airfare for each of the registrants is $400 apiece. And then outside of that they will need meal money for when their at the conference. That’s an action item you guys will need to take at the next meeting – and I just wanted to bring that up.”
See here the document.
At the start of the meeting, a procedural move occurred that we’ve not seen in the ten years of covering the jury.
Both President Randy Roberson and Vice-President Joe Henderson were absent, so a President Pro Tempore had to be elected.
There were four nominations – Theresa Wyatt, David Hammond, Walter Pullen, and Annette Straughter. All save Pullen were reluctant to take the gavel, so he was unanimously elected.
The jury also approved a request from the City of Grambling for ditching at several locations.
During the earlier Personnel/Benefits Committee meeting, Keith Barnes was nominated to the full jury to be reappointed to the Greater Ward One Waterworks District, and Mary Jo Cooper was nominated to be on the Lincoln Parish Library Board of Control.
On hand at the meeting was Sheriff’s candidate Randall Hermes to do a little glad-handing.
He noted that he had no plans to privatize the operation of the Lincoln Parish Detention Center, and that any contracts in force with the incumbent sheriff would be honored.
The Lincoln Parish Police Jury (LPPJ) will meet Tuesday, April 9, 2019, Lincoln Parish Court House, third floor.
Note that the meeting will be at the courthouse, instead of the library Events Center. The elevator is back in service, we have been advised.
Here are the meeting times and agendas:
Personnel – 6:30 PM
agenda
Police Jury – 7:00 PM
agenda
Claiming a potential savings of over $200 thousand this year in personnel costs, Lincoln Parish School District’s Assistant Superintendent Lisa Bastion urged the School Board to adopt an incentive plan to encourage several qualified employees to retire.
The plan was adopted unanimously.
The action came at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Board.
Said Bastion, “We have about 30 people in our district who have completed DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), or will complete DROP this summer. In this discussion, we realized that we have identified four people which would not have to be replaced. So, through attrition, if these four people accepted this incentive, we would save $212 thousand this year.”
“We have talked about setting aside up to $10 thousand – paying a $10 thousand incentive bonus for early retirement, but these people would have to meet the qualifications and have to apply.”
She went on to say if no one applied, the cost savings would be through attrition, or not replacing personnel that retire or resign.
The district hires 60 to 100 new employees each year, according to Superintendent Mike Milstead.
The plan would take applications for the incentive late this month, and would pay out the money in June.
Ruston’s annual audit was reported at Monday night’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen, and it showed no findings and had an unmodified opinion. That means the financial statements have no material misstatements, and that the auditor has can state that with a high level of assurance.
Jerrod Tinsley, of Heard, McElroy, & Vestal, LLC, said “…the financial statements are materially correct in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.”
The report covered the fiscal year from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018.
He added, “Laura gave me a clean set of books, and that should be noted.”
Earlier, City Treasurer Laura Hartt reported that the sales tax fund collected $18.4 million for the year, a slight increase over the year before. She added that the city’s long-term debt at the time of the audit was $79.9 million.
Alderman Jim Pearce asked about total revenue and expenses.
Hartt said that revenues were at $71 million and expenses were $53 million. She added that the fund balance as of the audit date was $14.8 million, down about $3 million from the year before.
Several long-time employees at the Lincoln Parish School Board may be retiring soon, if a memo circulating among board members is any indication. The memo is dated 3/29/19, and lists as the subject “Consider adoption of a one-time retirement incentive for 2019 only.”
In an effort to reduce some recurring expenses, the Board will consider offering a one time salary incentive to individual employees based on having completed DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) and 25 or more years of experience. This incentive would be capped at a total of $100,000 for 10 individuals who qualify. If more than 10 individual employees meeting this criterion decide for this option, then those leaving through attrition and others that have the largest impact to the budget would be given first consideration.
See here the complete memo.
The board will meet tomorrow (Tuesday, April 2), 10:30 AM, Choudrant High School, 2555 Hwy 80, Choudrant. The Building & Grounds Committee will meet at 10:00 AM.
Here are the agendas.
Lincoln Parish News Online 