Board questions parish Police Jury’s handling of taxes

• By BILL CATCHINGS
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 6, 2009 - Page: 4B

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ST. FRANCISVILLE — West Feliciana Parish Hospital Board members raised questions Thursday about the parish Police Jury’s handling of dedicated sales tax revenue for the parish’s only hospital.

The board could take no action at Thursday’s special meeting because the item dealing with sales tax revenue was left off the published agenda.

The questions raised concerns about what some members said is the excessive length of time it takes for the Police Jury to distribute the hospital’s portion of sales tax revenue and what is being done with that money while it is under Police Jury control.

District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla told the board the Police Jury is allowed to keep such money for a “reasonable amount of time,” before distributing it among other governmental bodies.

He questioned whether the jury could keep the money for a month to almost three months, which has been the case since November 2007, according to the Hospital Board.

D’Aquilla questioned whether the money was deposited in interest-bearing accounts or placed in escrow accounts that do not pay interest and what was being done with the interest, if any was collected.

Another question arose over whether the money was being placed in the Police Jury’s general fund prior to distribution to the hospital.

Hospital Board Chairwoman Sydney Picou said the Police Jury had been asked about this matter but had not responded.

“When the Hospital Board asks the Police Jury questions about this, the Police Jury needs to respond,” D’Aquilla said.

In West Feliciana Parish, the parish School Board serves as the tax collection agency for the parish.

The School Board distributes the revenue it collects to the other governmental taxing bodies, allowing itself a fee for providing the service.

The School Board shuttles the Hospital Board’s share of the tax revenue to the Police Jury, which in turn passes it along to the Hospital Board.

Picou also wanted to know whether the Hospital Board was being charged correctly for its share of the collections.