New 1/2¢ Sales Tax to pay for 6% Teacher Pay Raise

A new parish-wide 1/2¢ sales tax will be proposed at the Tuesday 10/1/19 meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board.

That tax would fund a $3000/yr pay raise for teachers, and a $1500 pay raise for support personnel. That amounts to about a 6% raise, incoming school district Business Manager Juanita Duke said at last night’s meeting.

Earlier this year, the legislature approved a $1000/$500 boost for teachers and support personnel. It went into effect July 1.

A public meeting will be held at the October meeting, and a board vote on whether to call a May, 2020 election will also take place. It the tax passes, the combined rate of sales tax for certain business in Ruston (hotel/restaurant) would be 12.3%.

In response to our questions, retiring Business Manager George Murphy said cost of the pay raises amounted to a little over half the $4.7 million the levy would be expected to take from taxpayers.

What the rest of the money would go toward hasn’t been determined yet, Murphy added.

“Under consideration are SRO (school resource) officers and potentially more money to put into the health care plan. But that has not been finalized, we don’t have anything on a piece of paper. But we will have it soon.”

Any monies allocated to the health care plan would also benefit district employees by offsetting possible premium increases.

None of the board members had any questions or comments about the proposed tax.

Earlier, the board’s finance committee met and recommended the the budget for the upcoming year.

For the year 7/1/2019-6/30/2020, revenues are projected to be $74.6 million, and expenditures are forecast to be $76.2 million.

The full board ratified the committee’s recommendation.

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School Board to Call Tax Vote for Next May

Tomorrow evening, the Lincoln Parish School Board will be asked to consider this:

Notice is hereby given that at its meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at the Parish School Board Office, 410 S. Farmerville Street, Ruston, Louisiana, the Parish School Board of the Parish of Lincoln, State of Louisiana, plans to consider adopting a resolution ordering and calling an election to be held in the Parish of Lincoln to authorize the levy of a sales and use tax.

It is unclear at this time if this is a new tax, or re-imposition of an expiring tax.

Here is the complete memo.

Tomorrow’s meeting will consist of a 5:45 PM Finance Committee and the regular board meeting at 6:00 PM.

Finance Committee agenda
School Board agenda

The meeting will be held at the new STEM Center, 525 Tarbutton Road, adjacent to Ruston Junior High.

New Health Plan Proposed for LPSB Retireds

A new and improved health plan for retirees of the Lincoln Parish School System was discussed at last night’s meeting of the School Board.

According to District Superintendent Mike Milstead, there will be a meeting for all retirees Thursday, 8/29, 10:00 AM, at the Ruston Civic Center. Blue Cross/Blue Shield personnel will be available to answer individual questions.

Said Milstead, “Everything in and out of network is zero copay,” except for a $50 emergency room service. He added, “On top of this, our retirees do not pay a premium. Now their spouses will pay a premium, of course.”

Asked if the plan will rely on Medicare as the primary insurer, Business Manager George Murphy said the plan will be joint with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Murphy said that retirees who are younger than 65 will have to stay on their existing plan until they attain that age.

See here a brochure provided by BC/BS.

In other money matters, the board adopted a budget revision to deal with a $3 million revenue shortfall from when the original budget was adopted last year. Almost all the shortfall will be made up through personnel attrition, rather than actual cuts.

See here the documents.

There was a quite lengthy list of personnel changes reported by Personnel Manager Doris Lewis.

See here the list.

Lincoln School Board Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, August 6, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

Changes Contemplated for Lincoln School District Retiree’s Health Plan

Changes to the health plan for Lincoln Parish School District retirees is being contemplated, it was said at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board.

Said District Superintendent Mike Milstead, “The plan basically saves us anywhere from $800 thousand to a million dollars a year. It increases the coverage for the retirees. Their out of pocket will go from $5000 to $1000.”

He added, “Retirees who presently pay a zero premium every month – their spouses pay some – we want for that to continue.”

Further details will be forthcoming and a detailed plan will be presented at the August board meeting, Milstead said.

He noted that if no changes are made, by 2027 the cost of medical insurance for retirees would be increase to $16 million from today’s cost of $10 million.

Milstead also said that in order to get the budget in line, personnel reductions had been effected, all through attrition.

Twenty certified and thirty-three non-certified employee have left, either through resignations or retirement.

Letter to the Editor from Sheila Bordelon

Lincoln Parish School Board Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, July 9, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

Meng Family Achieves again @ Lincoln Schools

Amanda Meng, center, with parents June and Dave

Not to be outdone by her older brother Austin, Amanda Meng is the second of Dave and June Meng’s children to be lauded as a high achiever in Lincoln Parish schools.

She was at last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board, and was recognized for scoring a perfect 36 on the American College Test (ACT).

Her brother Austin was recognized four years ago as a National Merit Scholarship finalist.

Amanda, who’ll be a Ruston High School (RHS) Senior this fall, is a National Honor Society member, news editor of the school’s newspaper, and is President of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter.

An accomplished pianist, she was a first-place winner in Calculus at the state Literary Rally.

Her plans include a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) college education, and then medical school.

Board President Joe Mitcham noted, “The fact that you’ve taken the talents God has given to you – developed them further to improve your mind and improve your studies – we’re very proud that you’ve made Lincoln Parish proud.”

Other academic news included a report from Secondary Supervisor Ricky Durrett, who said that for the school year 2017-2018, the graduation rate was above 95%, among the best in the state.

Durrett said that measure counts freshmen who graduate within four years.

See here the tabulations.

Business Manager George Murphy reported that sales tax collections were still lagging, mostly because of a decline of oil and gas exploration in the parish.

He cited a report from the parish’s tax office that documents the collections by business/industry.

Lincoln Parish School Board Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, June 4, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville St.

Here’s the agenda.

McBride Announces for Lincoln Parish Tax Assessor

Billy Mac McBride, Jr. announced today that he is a candidate for Assessor of Lincoln Parish.

McBride is the Chief Deputy Assessor for Lincoln Parish. As a Certified Deputy Assessor, McBride is involved in the valuation process of land, buildings, drilling rigs, oil and gas wells, cell towers, pipelines, and all general businesses as well as overseeing the daily operation of the Assessor’s office.

“Lincoln Parish has blessed me with so many opportunities,” McBride said.

“I’m running because I want to continue serving the people of Lincoln Parish. My wife and I are proud to call Lincoln Parish home.”

McBride said his campaign platform will be to work with all residents and businesses to ensure that assessments are fair and equitable. McBride added that both his experience in the private sector and in the government will give him a foundation to address the issues facing Lincoln Parish.

“Lincoln Parish is one of the brightest lights when it comes to economic development and entrepreneurship,” McBride said.

“ I want to work with our elected officials and community leaders to ensure that Lincoln Parish’s economic progress continues to grow stronger in the next few years.”

McBride was the Ruston OTASCO store Assistant Manager before he began working for the Weyerhaeuser Plywood Division in 1986. After 23 years with Weyerhaeuser, he accepted a position at the Lincoln Parish Assessor’s Office where he has served for the past 10 years.

McBride is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). He is a Certified Louisiana Deputy Assessor (CLDA) with over 240 hours of IAAO classroom education.

McBride is a graduate of Lincoln Leadership XXXII. He is a member of Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Rotary Club, Ruston Community Men’s Shed, NRA, and National Wild Turkey Federation.

Billy Mac and Janet Hall McBride have been married for 35 years. They have two children, Ashley McBride and Adam McBride, who is married to Tiffany Brown McBride. Billy Mac and Janet have two grandchildren, Tripp, age six, and Harper, age two.

For the past 10 years Janet has operated her own business, Janet McBride Court Reporting, in Ruston.
Billy Mac and Janet are members of First Baptist Church in Ruston.

Billy Mac enjoys spending time with his family and working with wood to create walking canes, furniture and other items.