By LEONARD GRAY-Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish Finance Director is continuing the pace set by her predecessor, Roland Becnel, with her department earning a certificate of achievement – an annual milestone since 1995.

Toups recently delivered her annual report to the St. Charles Parish Council to update the parish on who pays the most taxes, where and how the tax revenues are spent.

She commented that operations and maintenance spending is slightly down, while debt service is slightly up.

In her report for the year ending Dec. 31, 2002, the $85 million parish property tax income was split eight ways. Fifty-two percent went to the public school system, 5 percent went to Roads and Drainage programs, 3 percent went to General Fund programs, 2 percent went to Recreation programs, 1 percent each went to Road Lighting and Mosquito Control and 6 percent went to debt service.

Thirty percent went to other agencies including the sheriff’s office.

The top 10 property taxpayers were Entergy with 26.6 percent, Union Carbide (West Bank) with 8.4 percent, Shell Oil with 5. 3 percent, Motiva with 5.1 percent, Orion Refining with 4.6 percent, Occidental with 1.4 percent, Resolution Performance Products with 1.1 percent, Union Carbide (East Bank) with .9 percent and Shell Chemical with .8 percent.

The $45 million sales tax revenue was similarly split. The public school system received 60 percent, with Roads and Drainage receiving 20 percent, General Parish funds receiving 17.5 percent and Fire Protection receiving 2.5 percent.

The top 10 sales taxpayers were Union Carbide (West Bank), the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Shell Chemical, Wal-Mart, Monsanto, Motiva, Occidental, Orion, Linde Process Plants and Winn-Dixie (Ormond).

Toups added a report on 2002 expenditures of funds directly under the parish president’s administration. This does not include fire protection, Council on Aging, library, assessor, hospital, health unit or schools.

Public works got the lion’s share with 44 percent, Debt Service with 17 percent, General Government with 16 percent, Economic Development at 7 percent, Health and Welfare with 6 percent, Public Safety with 6 percent and Culture and Recreation at 4 percent.

Finally, Toups gave a per capita breakdown of expenditures per person and for a family of four.

For drainage and roads during 2002, the Laque administration spent $378 per person or $1,514 per family. For debt service, it spent $188 per person or $751 per family. With the library, it spent $73 per person or $292 per family. For fire protection, it spent $47 per person or $189 per family. For recreation, it spent $43 per person or $172 per family.

For the judicial system, the administration spent $35 per person or $139 per family. For public buildings, it spent $24 per person or $98 per family. For prisoners housed by the sheriff, it spent $21 per person or $83 per family. For public lighting, it spent $18 per person or $73 per family. for mosquito control, it spent $11 per person or $44 per family.