Vic Slaven, CPA, presented the City of Ville Platte’s audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, during the city council meeting Tuesday. He said there was $1,378,000 in the general fund, to spend at their discretion, and $2,117,000 to spend on street drainage. The general fund took in a total revenue $2,806,000 and expenditures of $5,614,000, with overspending of $2,807,000. Transfers in of $2,764,000 and transfers out of $100, so they actually lost $43,000 for the fiscal year.
Slaven then presented the utility funds. He said the gas department made a profit of $107,000. The water department lost $733,000, which is why the rates had to be raised. The sewerage department lost $142,000. This fiscal year ended before the new rates took effect.
Slaven said the city is moving in the right direction, given budget actuals.
Also during the meeting, Councilman Bryant Riggs asked Police Chief Neil Lartigue if he was able to come up with a number for how much extra police officers would be paid using the base salary of the retiring assistant Chief. Lartigue said it would be an extra $1 per hour per officer. He said that is just taking into account the base salary of the assistant chief, not the dispatch personnel who are being removed to allow 911 to take over dispatch calls.
Riggs asked Lartigue what a fair pay would be for police officers. Lartigue said they have to compete with other cities and get close to their salaries. “That’s why they’re going to Opelousas for $15/$16 an hour,” said Lartigue. “They need to make a living at the end of the day.” Lartigue said a typical Ville Platte officer is getting paid $400 to $500 every two weeks without overtime.
Councilwoman Faye Lemoine suggested writing more speeding tickets, having an officer stationed at high-speed areas during rush hours. Lartigue invited Lemoine to see his daily log which shows one officer working up to 12 reports a day. “He doesn’t have time to park anywhere. When he’s writing a ticket, dispatch is calling him and asking him how long he’s going to be because he has a call pending.”
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine said there is money in the budget for 10 on duty police officers, but, as they keep having to explain at every council meeting, the newly-hired officers receive training and then leave for better paying jobs in other cities. Currently, there is only one police officer on patrol at any given time. Lartigue said he has three officers in the police academy at the moment.
Riggs asked the chief to come up with a decent salary amount, saying the council will find a way to meet that salary. Vidrine said the ideal starting salary would be $15 an hour. She suggested raising it a dollar now, and another dollar in the next budget, and so on until the increments reach a base starting salary of $15 an hour.
Councilman Lionel Anderson complained about loitering, saying it has become a problem in his neighborhood which he said is full of senior citizens. He said there is a No Loitering sign at the old L&V Superette, but people still loiter under the sign. He said the seniors in his community are afraid of going through that area. Lartigue said his officers pass as often as they can and he reminds his officers to be vigilant of that area. He said the store will not call about loitering, but some people living in the housing authority property call, and they send out a unit. He said once they get the camera fixed, they will be able to keep a better lookout.
Anderson said the problem is the store owner who allows the loitering. “I’ve been telling him since January third of last year,” said Anderson. Vidrine said they are going to look into the occupational license to see what they can do. She advised the chief to have officers write tickets on the spot to loiters instead of giving them a warning. She also asked city attorney Eric LaFleur if he can look into making the store close early or make them close down, “simply because of all the problems that we’re having with the shooting in that neighborhood and the loitering, and it’s a menace.” She added, “It’s a life or death situation.”
LaFleur said they would have to come up with a rational basis for forcing one store to close rather than another store. Riggs said the old L&V store is in a residential neighborhood, but other stores like the Y-Not Stop are facing a commercial road. LaFleur said they could consider not allowing the store to sell liquor after a certain time, but that would have to apply to all stores. He said they could just allow packaged liquor after a certain time period. LaFleur said he will look at what can legally be done.
Mayor Vidrine also announced the dividend check they received at the end of last year was deposited on December 20th in the amount of $224,174.31. As of December 31st, the interest made was $93.28.
The mayor also reminded citizens who have abandoned or blighted properties they should tear it down on their own, because once it gets to the city, it will cost more or double. She said leans will be put on the owner and added to their property tax. She also said five to 10 properties are being torn down. “We’ve got a whole lot more to go, but please know we are going to get to every one of them.”
In closing comments, Vidrine acknowledged the recent survey saying Ville Platte ranks at number five for cities with the slowest internet in the country. “This is not the city. It’s Centurylink and Suddenlink, the providers. However, I am meeting with them on the 31st, with Centurylink to talk about upgrades in their system that can speed up their internet. And also I will be meeting with Suddenlink who took KVPI off their television channel without telling anybody.” She added, “Their internet services are horrible.” Vidrine also reminded the public they can get their income taxes done free at City Hall February 1, 8, 13, and 20. She also reminded everyone property taxes are due January 31.
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Nancy Duplechain
Associate Editor