LAPLACE — St. John the Baptist Parish government department heads are in line to receive substantial raises, in some cases up to $20,000 annually, under a late amendment to the 2020 budget that was pushed through by President-elect Jaclyn Hotard-Gaudet.

The increases total $140,000, although exactly where the funding will come from remains unclear.

Hotard-Gaudet asked for raises for department heads ranging from $5,000 up to $20,000.

She reasoned that when analyzing salaries for similar administrative posts in neighboring parishes, most notably St. Charles Parish, she learned that St. John administrators were earning far less than their counterparts, in some cases up to $40,000 less.

“That is too much. Our departments can afford it,” she said, explaining that funding will largely come from fund balances.

Councilman Larry Snyder, while not disagreeing with Hotard-Gaudet, expressed a desire to take a more comprehensive look at the proposal and have the council vote on it during the Dec. 23 meeting. He also noted that if something is increasing, something else had to be taken out, saying “that is what I want to know.”

At one point, chief financial officer Robert Figuero said he is not certain where the money is coming from.

“We need to vote today,” Hoard-Gaudet emphasized on several occasions, even as other council members expressed some concerns that they were seeing the numbers for the first time.

She also explained the importance of having new employees understand what their salaries will be at this point, before the Christmas break.

Hotard-Gaudet remains in the process of hiring her own administrative staff.

She also noted a complicated data entry process could potentially delay the budget from being fully entered before Jan. 1, when it goes into effect.

“We will have the problem of getting the budget inserted into the system,” she said.

Others were quick to align with the president-elect.

“It’s a necessity to attract a more competent and learned group of employees to the parish,” council chairman Thomas Malik said, adding that the parish needs to prepare for several major projects in the upcoming year and beyond.

Hotard-Gaudet’s amendment passed 9-0 but Snyder was the lone dissenter in an 8-1 vote to approve the overall budget.

Councilman Marvin Perrilloux, as he has on previous occasions, floated the idea of increased pay for council members. Based on the parish budget, council members average about $8,300 a year, and that number has been static since the parish went to its current form of government three decades ago, Perrilloux said.

“We need to attract new people to the council,” he said. “We need new ideas, we need to attract young people to run.

“Since 1983 there has been no change. We have done nothing to attract people.”

He stressed the necessity of getting the “best crop out there” involved, adding, “not everybody will quit a job to come to a parish job.”

In other council action, members unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone part of the New Era Plantation subdivision from Residential District One (R-1) to Rural District. During the public comments portion of the meeting, New Era resident Stephanie Clark strongly lobbied against the amendment, pointing out that returning to the Rural designation it once was would open the potential to reversing the progress the area has made.

“We are a retirement community and would like to keep it that way,” she said.

The motion zipped through the Planning Commission with unanimous approval and the administration also recommended giving it a nod, saying it was compatible with the surrounding land uses. The purpose for the request was to allow for better use of an existing barn in the area.

Councilman Kurt Becnel was vehement in his opposition, recalling a story when a “strong foul odor” was emitting in the area. Further investigation found that someone had buried a dead horse in the ground.

The motion was rejected 9-0.

Also, the second meeting in December was moved from Dec. 24 to Dec. 23 at noon.

Richard Meek is a contributing writer to L’OBSERVATEUR.