Jail budget battle goes to state

The state legislative auditor's office will look into dueling claims by St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis and Sheriff Jack Strain accusing each other of misusing sales-tax money.

The accusations flew on Thursday, as Davis asked for an investigation into the sheriff's use of money from a sales tax dedicated to the St. Tammany Parish jail.

In response, Strain sent the legislative auditor a missive of his own that called into the question the parish government's use of funds from a parish road tax that he said paid for public gardens.

Strain denied that any funds for the jail had been used improperly.

"I can tell you ... that I have absolutely not used sales-tax dollars for anything but the operation of the parish jail," he wrote.

In his letter to the auditor and in an interview with The Times-Picayune, Strain said the newspaper erred in a story Thursday when it quoted him as saying he used sales-tax money that is dedicated to the parish jail to help build a new Sheriff's Office complex on Brown's Switch Road near Slidell. The sheriff said he was referring to money in the jail budget, but not funds that are required by law to be used only for jail operations.

Strain's letter also accused Davis of using funds from a parish road tax on "projects which have no relation to roads or drainage, such as flower gardens in Camp Salmen, a park in the Slidell area."

Davis' letter to the auditor made reference to the newspaper story that Strain said contained incorrect information.

The legislative auditor's office received both letters Thursday and will look into the claims, First Assistant Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said Friday.

"We have read the letters and we're considering now what impact that would have on an audit, if any, and what action we might take," Purpera said.

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