Pointe Coupee, New Roads plan talks on trash-tax funds
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NEW ROADS — The Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury and the city of New Roads administration on Tuesday night called for reaching an agreement on dividing up solid waste tax revenue generated by part of a parishwide sales tax.
New Roads Mayor Tommy Nelson said the city, which contracts for its own trash collection service, has been “shorted” more than $101,000 under the current arrangement.
The city at this time receives as its share about $4,300 a month from the dedicated tax revenue the parish collects.
Nelson said he is willing to ignore any past shortfall if the Police Jury agrees to adjust its payments to the city upward. But he threatened to file suit in federal court seeking retroactive payments if the matter is not settled.
The city had been served by parishwide solid waste collection services at the time voters approved a parishwide sales tax dedicating 20 percent of the revenue to funding solid waste disposal services in all areas of the parish.
Later, former Mayor Sylvester Muckelroy asked for and received Police Jury approval to allow the city to run its own solid waste operation and jurors voted to pay the city $2.35 per customer per month from the 20 percent sales tax revenues dedicated to solid waste disposal parishwide.
Part of the problem now is the inability of parish and city governments to find a signed copy of a resolution establishing and defining the agreement, and the existence of multiple drafts of the agreement.
City officials said an unsigned copy of the agreement they have calls for the city to receive about 18 percent of the monthly sales tax income, more than twice what the city now receives.
Police Jury President Melanie Bueche said the parish may decide to seek a state attorney general’s opinion as to whether it would be legal to give the city any of the tax money at all, since the ballot proposition said nothing about funding a city-run trash pickup service.
After extended discussion, city and parish officials agreed to further negotiation on the matter.
New Roads Mayor Tommy Nelson said the city, which contracts for its own trash collection service, has been “shorted” more than $101,000 under the current arrangement.
The city at this time receives as its share about $4,300 a month from the dedicated tax revenue the parish collects.
Nelson said he is willing to ignore any past shortfall if the Police Jury agrees to adjust its payments to the city upward. But he threatened to file suit in federal court seeking retroactive payments if the matter is not settled.
The city had been served by parishwide solid waste collection services at the time voters approved a parishwide sales tax dedicating 20 percent of the revenue to funding solid waste disposal services in all areas of the parish.
Later, former Mayor Sylvester Muckelroy asked for and received Police Jury approval to allow the city to run its own solid waste operation and jurors voted to pay the city $2.35 per customer per month from the 20 percent sales tax revenues dedicated to solid waste disposal parishwide.
Part of the problem now is the inability of parish and city governments to find a signed copy of a resolution establishing and defining the agreement, and the existence of multiple drafts of the agreement.
City officials said an unsigned copy of the agreement they have calls for the city to receive about 18 percent of the monthly sales tax income, more than twice what the city now receives.
Police Jury President Melanie Bueche said the parish may decide to seek a state attorney general’s opinion as to whether it would be legal to give the city any of the tax money at all, since the ballot proposition said nothing about funding a city-run trash pickup service.
After extended discussion, city and parish officials agreed to further negotiation on the matter.
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