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.

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School Retirement Incentive Plan Okayed

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.

Retirement Talk @ Lincoln Schools

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.

2019-2020 School Calendar Adopted

With little discussion, the Lincoln Parish School Board adopted the district’s 2019-2020 calendar at last night’s meeting.

Assistant Superintendent Lisa Bastion said the calendar is similar to that of last year.

Said she, “There’s 170 1/2 instructional days. There’s 8 professional development days for teachers. We’re incorporating a fall break, around Columbus Day in October.”

Superintendent Mike Milstead said advertising and interviews for principals at I. A. Lewis and Ruston High School will be scheduled soon.

Business Manager George Murphy reported that the May salary supplement checks would be distributed on May 24.

Teachers and other certified employees will receive $5825, and non-certified employees will receive $2,913.

See here the memo.

School Board Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet tomorrow (Tuesday, 3/5), 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

LPSB Audit Shows No Issues

The latest audit for the Lincoln Parish School District was an “unmodified opinion,” it was reported at last night’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board.

The district’s financial statements showed no material misstatements. Simply put, you can believe the numbers that the district’s business department reports.

Margie Williamson, Audit Manager of Allen, Green & Williamson also noted that the report for the period ending 6/30/18 had no findings.

“Our opinion is an unmodified opinion, without any exceptions. That means that the financial statements as presented are fairly stated, without any exceptions. That is the best opinion you can get on your financial statements,” Williamson said.

In other business, the board heard several monthly reports, including personnel, sales taxes, financial, and health plan.

Lincoln Parish School Board Tomorrow

The Lincoln Parish School Board will meet Tuesday, February 5, 6:00 PM, Central Office, 410 South Farmerville Street.

Here’s the agenda.

Former Lincoln Parish School Board Member Cited

Eddie Milton Jones, a former Lincoln Parish School Board member (District 2) was last year cited by the Louisiana Board of Ethics and fined for violation of the state’s nepotism law.

Jones was cited thus:

…that Eddie M. Jones, while serving as a member of the Lincoln Parish School Board, violated La. R.S. 42:1 l19B by virtue of the employment of his son, Otis Jones, with the Lincoln Parish School Board.

The younger Jones was employed as a paraprofessional at the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home in 2013. Since the children’s home receives school board funding for a Title I program position, it was ruled that his employment was a violation.

Eddie Jones served on the school board from 2007 to 2015, and was defeated in 2014 by incumbent David Ferguson.

A $1000 joint penalty was levied against Eddie and Otis Jones, to be paid in full by 11/15/18.

While the violation occurred in 2013, the investigation was conducted in secret and the findings were not released until this past December.

See here the complete Ethics Board document.

In Today’s Mail

This arrived in our mail today. Postmarked Shreveport, LA, 1/14/19. No return address.

The First Amendment in action.

A Plenitude of LPSO Deputies @ Cypress Springs Elem Yesterday

A notable item at yesterday morning’s meeting of the Lincoln Parish School Board was the presence of several Lincoln Parish School Resource Officers at the Cypress Springs Elementary School off Maple Avenue.

Part of the discussion about more taxes for Lincoln Parish property owners had been the claim that more officers were needed to protect parish schoolchildren. For sure, there was no shortage of deputies yesterday.

Perhaps those officers were there to make sure the handful of uppity taxpayers who dared to show up at the meeting to question the new tax plan didn’t become too unruly.

After all, we can’t allow the folks who actually pay the bills have a say in how the money’s spent, can we?