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Residents press council to scrutinize library millages and budget increases
Summary
During public comment, residents urged the council to review proposed library millages and recent wage increases, and repeated neighborhood flooding and drainage concerns drew operational responses from public works.
Residents at the July 14 Lafourche Parish Council meeting used the public-comment period to press the council on library finances and local drainage problems.
Elliot Day told the council he supports libraries but questioned the timing and scale of two millages headed for the December ballot. Citing the library’s budget documents, he said the library has about a $9,000,000 fund balance, projected revenue of $6,100,000 and reported a roughly 23–25% increase in wages and benefits from about $3.5 million to $4.2 million in 2025. "If they have a $9,000,000 fund balance, why are they paying towards debt service?" Day asked, and urged the council to ask the library for explanations while he will be out of town for the public hearing.
The chair and council members urged Day to engage directly with the library board. The chair said library financial documents are public by law and encouraged the commenter to attend a library board meeting for clarification: "I would strongly encourage you to be enlightened by the library itself before...making some assumptions." The council did not provide a definitive accounting during the meeting and directed staff and members to follow up.
Separately, residents including Rosalyn LaBeouf and John Robinson reported repeated flooding on California Street and in neighborhoods near railroad culverts. LaBeouf said crews had cleared portions of the drainage but a remaining blocked section still caused backflow; a public works representative replied that crews completed one job today and "They move into California Street tomorrow," and that a cleaning machine was scheduled to address remaining obstructions.
The public-comment period also included appreciation for recent fieldwork and a reminder that FEMA-related rebuilding can bring additional design and engineering costs that increase total project expense.
Next steps noted in the meeting: council members and staff were asked to follow up with the library for documentation and to monitor public-works progress on the drainage work.
