Consolidation initiative begins; effort to attract business and industry

Last month, the St. Mary Parish Council unanimously agreed to consolidate three service districts into one.
Waterworks District 5 and Sewerage Districts 5 and 8 were combined into a single entity, Water and Sewer Commission 3.
Waterworks District 5 includes Franklin, Garden City, Centerville, Bayou Sale, Verdunville and the Patterson area. Sewerage District 5 covers Centerville, Verdunville, Bayou Sale and Garden City. Sewerage District 8 includes the Patterson area.
The move is akin to a push by a fledgling group of citizens named St. Mary One, as well as the long-standing St. Mary Industrial Group.
Edgar Dugas III, representing St. Mary One, and Greg Roussel, on behalf of SMIG but also a St. Mary One board member, explained what the ultimate goal of consolidation is.
“It’s a group of individuals and business owners to address primarily consolidation of taxing entities,” Dugas said. “It’s in the process of having its board formulated…getting traction around consolidation, asking questions, and hearing from individuals and business people, where do you see that waste happening, where are those opportunities for consolidation and how do we go out and communicate that?”
Businesses can locate in neighboring parishes and have a “more favorable” tax rate. The initiative is addressing proper tax rates. “It’s easier to do business in those neighboring parishes,” Dugas said. “I know that for a fact, because I’m there. Lafourche, Terrebonne, Iberia, Lafayette Parish, are easier to work with than here.”
Roussel said property tax millages on the west end of the parish are “outrageous, compared to the east end of the parish. There’s so much more property here available for business and industry; if we can get that millage down, have the opportunity to attract large companies…the resources are here on the west end but the millages are outrageous.”
SMIG has been pushing for consolidating for some time. The group represents about 140 businesses, and Roussel said, “We’re pushing for economic development. What can we do to help? With this economy, it’s a necessity now. We have to do something.”
Within the more than 40 taxing districts in the parish, many are “flush with cash,” Dugas said. “Lots of cash, compared to their operating expenses. So, on the heels of having to close two schools in the parish…that’s the reality of it. It’s not that money wasn’t there, I think it’s that the money wasn’t in the right pot.”
In the recent consolidation by parish government, Roussel said those districts received user fees of $1.86 million, and operating costs were $1.88 million. In restricted funds there was a balance of $2.6 million and $3.4 million in unrestricted funds. “So they collect enough to pay for services,” Roussel said. “Not to say that they don’t need these funds for capital improvement, but how much of this money is sitting out there? One board could oversee and put a plan together on capital improvements over time.”
If consolidation and efficiency improvements are made, property tax millages could be reduced, they say.
Consolidation would also allow districts to share equipment and avoid duplication, resulting in further savings. Efficiency studies are currently in the works.
Voters will be able to approve Water and Sewer Commission 3’s millage rate after the commission selects an official rate to be voted on by residents, Parish President David Hanagriff said. Once the new millage passes, the millage rates for the three former districts will no longer be levied.
Both said response has been supportive so far but, “We didn’t get into this in four years, we’re not going to get out of it in four years,” Dugas said.