By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

EDGARD – St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom on Tuesday introduced a roughly $55 million budget proposal for the 2011 fiscal year, with heavy emphasis on ongoing water, sewer and road projects.

In a letter to the parish council, Robottom said although her administration chose to take a conservative approach with the budget, the $54.5 million in expenditures reflects a 5-percent increase over projected 2010 expenditures. She said the increase, which will utilize a $1.7 million parish tax surplus, will help pay for the ongoing projects.

The surplus would be split among the parish’s wastewater and road maintenance funds. The surplus transfer reduces the reserve fund to about $13.4 million by the end of 2011, which is down from $15.1 million at the end of this year.

Wastewater spending for 2011 is estimated at $975,000, which is down from $2.3 million in 2010. The largest amount of spending, $530,000, is being put toward ongoing repairs due to rainwater infiltration in the parish’s older sewer lines. There is also $100,000 for sewer lift stations in LaPlace and another $100,000 for telemetry.

The parish is also required to move forward with a state-mandated backflow prevention program that will prevent contaminated water from entering the parish’s water supply. The program is part of an administrative order issued to the parish in 2009.

The parish is also expecting to spend about $1 million on miscellaneous street repairs parishwide.

Robottom said she expects to use about $2.4 million from its reserves this year. The money is from revenue set aside from the windfall from the $3.5 billion expansion of Marathon’s Garyville refinery. The parish collected more than $13 million per year in sales tax in 2008 and 2009, but with construction complete, the figure dropped to $7.8 million in 2008 and $8 million in 2011.

Robottom said property tax revenue is also on the decline for 2011. In her council statement, she said revenues are expected to decrease by 5 percent in 2011 because of reduced inventory levels in heavy industry and some retail merchants. She added that expiration of 10-year industrial tax exemptions should raise property taxes in the future. Sales and ad valorem taxes account for about 56 percent of the parish’s revenue. Total revenues for 2011 are expected to be about $52.6 million, about the same as this year’s revenue figure.

The council took no action on the budget Tuesday.

Robottom said the parish typically schedules a series of workshops with council members to review the budget and discuss concerns. The parish has until Dec. 31 to vote on or amend the budget, or the original proposal will be enacted. Robottom does not expect any problems with the budget passing.

“I appreciate your administration working up a proposal this early so that we have ample time to review it,” Division B Councilman-at-Large Steve Lee said. “It allows us to communicate all of our concerns in a timely manner.”