Bogalusa's Fiscal Administrator Reports to Fiscal Review Committee

Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette, Councilwoman Gloria Kates, and Fiscal Administrator Joey Richard appeared before a meeting of the Fiscal Review Committee on Wednesday (January 29, 2020). Richard provided a report to the committee and Mayor Perrette and Richard then responded to questions from members of the committee. The conversations were cordial, productive and informational.

Discussions included plans to resolve three financial areas of concern:(1) under-funding of the City of Bogalusa Employee’s Retirement System (with a net pension liability of more than $22 million), (2) under-funding of the City of Bogalusa's share of the Choctaw Road Landfill (with a net liability of over $2.9 million as of 12/31/2019), and (3) structural deficits (of about $1.2 million). Richard reported the plans to address the three areas of concern.

Regarding the Choctaw Road Landfill issue, Richard reported that a proposed resolution is expected to be finalized in Feburary, 2020 following approval by Washington Parish Government. Basically, the City of Bogalusa will sell its ownership in the landfill to Washington Parish in exchange for the debt. The City and the Parish will then enter into a 10-year contract, under which the City will pay approximately $320,000 per year.

Councilwoman Kates came before the committee with questions and comments toward the end of the meeting (beginning at 41:40 into the video).

The video below is the segment of the meeting dealing with Bogalusa. Click here to view video of the entire meeting.