By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

CONVENT – The St. James Parish Council on Monday will hold the first in a series of special meetings to discuss Parish President Dale Hymel’s proposed budget for 2011.

The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. at the Courthouse annex on the west bank, located at 2631 Highway 20 in Vacherie.

Hymel’s $50 million budget proposal was introduced to the council on Nov. 3. The council has until the end of the year to amend and approve the spending plan, or Hymel’s budget will be enacted.

According to Hymel’s budget message, the $53.3 million in expenditures represents a 9-percent increase over the 2010 figure. He said capital expenditures take up about $14.9 million of that figure. Notable capital projects for 2011 include $2.2 million for renovations to the Lutcher library, $783,000 for road and bridge maintenance, $1.5 million for wetlands mitigation and about $2 million for water system improvements.

The parish is expecting a revenue figure of about $46.7 million, which is about $500,000 less than that of 2010. He said property taxes and sales taxes both showed a decrease from last year.

Although taxes are anticipated to be down for 2011, Hymel said the parish is on the brink of an economic boom in the coming years. The parish is expecting a construction influx within the parish totaling more than $2.4 billion, including major capital construction announcements from Nucor Corp., Faustina Hydrogen, Petroplex International, NUSTAR and INCA Refining.

Hymel said those projects would generate a significant windfall in sales and property taxes, but figures could not be prepared in time to be worked into the budget proposal. He said taxes represent about 44 percent of the parish’s total revenue. The parish expects to collect about $19.2 million in taxes for 2011.