Budget shaping up in St. Charles

St. Charles Parish's proposed $134 million budget for next year includes using $21 million of its cash reserves for construction projects. About half that money is earmarked for construction of the West Bank Hurricane Protection Levee.

The parish expects to spend $101 million in 2009. However, Finance Director Grant Dussom said all but $7 million of the 2010 total is for previously approved projects that were not completed this year.

The parish's fiscal year ends Dec. 31.

"We allocated $7.5 million for the west bank levee last year, but we didn't spend that. We're planning on spending $15 million this year," Dussom said. That sum includes a $4.5 million state grant for the levee that former Parish President Albert Laque obtained from Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration. The remaining $10.5 million would come from parish reserves.

Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr.'s administration hopes to get federal permits to build a portion of the west bank levee in the Willowdale area in 2010 and that a permit for another phase in the Ellington area will follow soon afterward.

The levee is designed to provide protection from storm surges for the parish's west bank. The east bank is protected by a federally financed levee. St. Charles' west bank is not included in that levee system.

The Parish Council gets a chance to go over the proposal at three public meetings, set for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 6 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 6 p.m. on Nov. 3.

Council members will have a chance to amend the budget, but must do so at least 30 days before the end of the year, or the administration's proposal goes into effect.

If all the projects are built next year, the parish will have a $67 million cash reserve compared to an estimated $88 million in revenues at the end of 2009....