Green building fate delayed to 2016

The Iberia Parish Council will hold the first of four hearings on the upcoming 2021 operating budget Monday night.

In Monday night’s session, the council will review budgets for the Iberia Parish Library, parish recreation and playgrounds, the Iberia Parish Tourist Commission, the parish disaster relief fund, the HUD voucher fund, 16th JDC Drug Court, the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, the parish bond redemption fund, road construction projects fund, Community Development Block Grant fund, and the parish risk management and unemployment compensation fund.

Iberia Parish President Larry Richard, in his letter to the council last month, said that the year will hold several fiscal challenges for the parish as royalty revenues continue to drop, tax revenues recede and expenses increase.

The bottom line for the fiscal year is that the budget currently shows the parish projecting $56,664,130 in expenses against $45,228,422 in revenues. That would leave the parish with a decrease in its fund balance at the end of 2021 of almost $11 million dollars, dropping it to $50,438,530.

Much of that deficit comes from spending on capital projects from outside sources, such as the funding for the Acadiana Regional Airport access road and roundabout projects. But Richard made it clear that the parish will have to make some changes to fund all of its required expenditures in the coming fiscal year.

“While we do have revenues dedicated for operations such as public building maintenance, drainage maintenance and fire protection, some of these dedicated revenues are insufficient to meet current needs,” said Iberia parish President Larry Richard in his letter accompanying the consolidated budget statement. “Major areas of concern include funding for road and bridge maintenance and improvements; drainage maintenance and improvements; garbage, recycling and debris collection; parish jail operations which requires a large subsidy to break even; and fire protection services.”

The council will meet each Monday in October to delve into another set of fund budgets for the coming year.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. in the parish council meeting room on the fourth floor of the Iberia Parish Courthouse, 300 Iberia St.