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Funding fight: DeSoto Parish jurors debate nonprofit festival grants and water‑system aid
Summary
Jurors debated whether to standardize or cap nongovernmental grant awards and questioned funding for out‑of‑parish groups; a separate request from a small water system for a truck and excavator prompted staff to verify state contract options before the full jury decides.
A lengthy debate over nongovernmental grant requests and a separate plea from a small rural water system dominated part of the DeSoto Parish Police Jury’s budget meeting.
Finance staff read a packet of nonprofit requests and festival funding applications — including requests from a local chamber of commerce, the Mansfield Civic Group, a Melvin Porter Foundation application and a multicultural summer program. Jurors expressed conflicting views about whether to prioritize parish‑based groups and whether festival requests should be capped after a prior motion to limit some festival awards to $5,000.
"Before we give grants to anybody out of the parish, we need to be taken care of our own," Speaker 2 said, arguing that parish residents and in‑parish organizations should be prioritized. Other jurors responded that constituent needs and the public benefit vary by program; some jurors said the grants encourage tourism and local spending.
A separate, urgent funding request came from a representative of a small water system (Speaker 10), who described unpaid obligations, failing equipment and the impact of nearby fiber‑installation work on the system. Speaker 10 said the system planned a rate change, describing the base rate rising from $20 to $40 for the first 2,000 gallons, and asked for assistance to purchase a truck and excavator. "The base rate right now is $20 for the first 2,000 gallons... We are going up to $40," Speaker 10 said. Jurors did not decide the request immediately; they motioned to add the equipment/funding question to the full jury’s budget approval agenda and requested that staff verify state‑contract purchasing options and the parish’s surplus vehicle inventory.
The jurors also enforced a policy requiring grant requests to be submitted by September 30 for consideration; several applicants were ruled ineligible for the current budget cycle because their paperwork arrived late. Jurors voted line‑by‑line on grant amounts during the meeting for several applicants who met the deadline, but many awards and finer allocations were deferred to the full jury for final approval.
What’s next: staff will supply the full jury with procurement options (state contract pricing and surplus inventory) ahead of the next regular meeting and bring back line‑by‑line grant recommendations for final vote.
