Making his pitch

With election day around the corner, Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory made a pitch for his proposed one-cent sales tax to the Rotary Club of Ville Platte at its meeting held Tuesday, March 23.
Before proposing a sales tax, Sheriff Guillory checked around different parts of the parish to gauge the public’s opinion. “The consensus was a one-cent sales tax would be better than a millage,” he said.
The main reason behind that is because about a third of parish residents do not pay property taxes because of homestead exemption.
“One percent would yield approximately $2.5 million,” the sheriff said. “For me to ask for a millage, it would need to be 20 mills to equal a one percent sales tax.”
As for a sales tax, Sheriff Guillory used the example of a farmer purchasing a combine that costs $400 thousand. One percent of that is $4 thousand extra the farmer would have to pay. However, he would only pay that one time as opposed to a 20 mill increase would be paid for the rest of his life.
The sheriff said, “My taxes would go up $700 a year. It seems like it would be asking a lot for only the 30 percent to pay for everybody.”
“Everybody pays the one-cent sales tax no matter what,” he continued. “People driving through here who stop to buy something will pay it too.”
The proposed tax increase would raise sales taxes to a rate that is still synonymous to rates of other parish’s in the area. Allen Parish has a sales tax of 10.45 percent. “I’m not shooting ahead of everybody else,” Sheriff Guillory said. “We are at 9.45, so that one penny will be at 10.45.”
St. Landry Parish has a sales tax of 11.2 percent, Rapides is at 10 percent, and Avoyelles is at 9.9 percent.
Of the current 9.45 percent collected in Evangeline Parish, 4.5 percent goes to the state, 5 percent goes to the parish, 2 percent goes to the school board, 2 percent goes to the police jury and the cities, and 1 percent goes to solid waste.
“The parish has been neglected for many years,” the sheriff said. “This tax is not a Charles Guillory tax. It’s going to be there for the next sheriff and the next sheriff and the next sheriff. It’s something that needs to be done. My salary will not get affected. My salary is set by state legislation. But, my staff is going to get a raise. The jailer I have makes $8.76 an hour.”
The sheriff explained his budget, that was set in 1977, hovers between $2.2 million and $2.4 million. Allen Parish’s budget is set around $10 million, Acadia is $11 million, Avoyelles is $7 million, and St. Landry is $16 million.
He further explained that he was unsure if he would have enough funds in the budget last year. However, his department received two stimulus checks which yielded $700 thousand. That money was used to create a traffic division on I-49 along with a narcotics division and a criminal patrol division.
“I used that money because there are a lot of things that need to be done,” said the sheriff. “All of the things we are doing is for the good of Evangeline Parish. It’s not for Charles Guillory. I’m just the new sheriff who’s pushing the buttons, and I do push them hard. It’s going to continue, but y’all know it costs money.”
Sheriff Guillory went over the progress his office has made since taking office last July. Last week, the sheriff’s office made its 200th drug arrest. That creates a problem of housing the inmates. But, the sheriff explained the proposed tax could alleviate that problem because he plans on buying a facility, preferably the prison in Pine Prairie or Basile.
“I can go to the bond commission and ask for a loan,” the sheriff said. “The first thing they’re going to ask me is what I got for collateral. Here it is- my sales tax.”
“But, at the same time,” he continued, “I will be earning revenue at an 1,100 bed facility like in Pine Prairie because I could arrest juveniles and house females.”
As the sheriff concluded, the proposed tax could also benefit the parish in attracting new business and industry. “Businesses might come if they know we have good protection,” he expressed. “Companies might call the Industrial Development Board and ask for an exemption. That’s important because if you have a good police force then the word gets around.”
Election day for the proposed tax is set for Saturday, April 24. Details on the close of books and early voting period for the election can be found in the story on Page 1.