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Police Jury approves up to $30,000 increase to South Central Planning grant-management contract
Summary
The Finance Committee and full jury approved an increase of up to $30,000 in the contract with South Central Planning and Development Commission to complete year one of grant-management services; staff and the vendor said workload exceeded the original estimate.
Assumption Parish jurors approved an increase of up to $30,000 to the first-year contract with South Central Planning and Development Commission for grant writing and grant-management services.
Why it matters: South Central Planning has managed the parish’s portfolio of grant applications and administration since June under a pilot agreement. Parish and commission staff said the original $50,000 estimate underestimated the labor required after the number of projects grew from 16 to 21; the commission asked for additional funds to avoid operating the contract at a loss.
Vendor presentation: Kevin Belanger, CEO of South Central Planning, told jurors the commission will continue to honor the contract regardless of the jury’s decision but that his agency faces roughly a $30,000 shortfall at current billable rates. Pat Gordon, the commission’s planning director, explained that initial time coding and accounting across multiple grants required corrections and that some projects had not been assigned proper accounting codes; the commission and parish staff said they have worked to re-code invoices so billing aligns with the project worked on.
Committee and jury action: The Finance Committee discussed the request and recommended approval. At the full meeting jurors voted in favor of increasing the contract amount by up to $30,000 to complete the first year of services; during discussion the commission offered to reduce its request to $25,000 if that better fit the parish budget, but jurors approved the up-to-$30,000 request.
Financial controls and next steps: Jurors and staff emphasized they had clarified invoicing procedures so hours are charged to the specific grant project being worked on and not indiscriminately spread across grants. Parish staff will document the amended contract in writing (resolution or formal amendment) and track project-level billing closely.
Ending: The jury approved short-term additional funding to avoid service interruption while staff and South Central Planning continue to stabilize billing practices and establish project codes for accurate cost allocation.
