Introduction

Jefferson Parish Profile

General Revenues

General Expenditures

1999 Operating Budget

1999 Capital Budget

Conclusion

General Revenues:
1988 – 1997

This review of Jefferson Parish general operating revenues includes funds accounted for in the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, and the Debt Service Funds. See Figure A. Excluded from these figures are revenues from Capital Projects and Enterprise Funds.

Fund Types

The General Fund, which totaled $48.7 million in 1997, accounted for 18.2 percent of general operating revenues. It is the parish’s only source of undedicated revenue and is used to support the parish’s governmental operations including the Parish Council, the office of the Parish President, parish financial administration, and a variety of public safety functions. Mandated support for criminal justice agencies (District Attorney, the court systems, and prison operations) will account for 41 percent of 1999 General Fund expenditures.

The Special Revenue Fund accounted for 63 percent of parish revenues in 1997. That includes special tax proceeds legally dedicated for specific purposes, for example ambulance services, garbage collection, and fire protection. The great majority of state and federal grant funds are also accounted for in the Special Revenue Fund.

The Debt Service Fund accounted for 18.7 percent of general parish revenues and is used to maintain monies to pay interest and principal on the parish’s general obligation and special tax bonds.

Revenue Sources

Parish general revenues totaled $267.9 million in 1997, an increase of 57.5 percent over 1988 income of $170.1 million and an 8.7 percent increase over 1995 revenues of $244.4 million. See Table 1. Adjusted for inflation, general revenues increased by 19.9 percent over the ten-year period 1988 through 1997 and by 4.8 percent from 1995 to 1997.

The parish’s sources of general revenue are a variety of taxes, charges for service, intergovernmental funds (state and federal grants), licenses and permits, interest income, fines and forfeitures, special assessments, and miscellaneous sources. Parish tax income, as a percentage of total parish revenues, declined by 5.8 percent between 1988 and 1997 as revenue from charges for service grew from 3.5 percent ($5.8 million) to 9 percent of total funds ($24.1 million). Other parish revenue sources have remained stable over the years.

Taxes

Taxes, which include property taxes, sales taxes, severance, and miscellaneous taxes, are the largest source of parish income comprising 65.3 percent ($175.0 million) of 1997 total general government revenues, down from 69 percent in 1988 and 66.6 percent ($162.7 million) of total general revenues in 1995. Intergovernmental funds made up 13.5 percent of parish income in 1997, charges for service 9 percent, and miscellaneous 4.2 percent. The remaining revenue resources accounted for eight percent of parish annual income.

Sales tax revenue increased by 52.2 percent from 1988 through 1997, or by 15.9 percent adjusted for inflation. However, sales tax revenue slowed between 1994 and 1997 growing by only 6 percent, a decrease of 4.9 percent in real dollars.

Property tax revenues grew by 42.6 percent between 1988 and 1997 or 8.7 percent adjusted for inflation, and by 11.9 percent from 1994 to 1997, 4.3 percent ahead of inflation. The steep drop in property tax revenue between 1990 and 1991 was due in part to a 2.6 percent decline in the assessed value of taxable property in the parish, and in part to a reduction in millages to compensate for prior year surpluses. See Figure B.

This trend supports other indicators that suggest economic growth in Jefferson Parish has slowed during the 1990’s. Jefferson Parish population declined over the past ten years and per capita income has remained flat. A decrease in the unemployment rate from 8.4 percent in 1988 to 3.8 percent in 1997 has helped to minimize the impact of the declining population on the parish economy.

Other Revenue Sources

Intergovernmental funds, principally state and federal grants, grew by 64.7 percent between 1988 and 1997 and by 23.8 percent from 1995 to 1997. The federal Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services were the parish’s main sources of grant funds in 1997. Parish revenues from charges for services tripled between 1988 and 1995 but decreased in 1997.

Money from miscellaneous taxes, which includes taxes on alcoholic beverages, chain stores, and the cable TV franchise, totaled $2.9 million or 1.6 percent of tax revenues in 1997. Parish income from severance taxes has remained unchanged at about half a million dollars over the past ten years.

Gaming Revenue

Legalized gaming as a revenue source has had a modest impact on parish finances. The parish’s revenue from gaming, which includes income from off-track betting, video poker, and riverboat gaming (the Boomtown Belle), totaled about $4.1 million in 1998, or about 1.7 percent of operating revenue.

The largest gaming revenue producer for the parish is video poker bringing in a total of $1.6 million in 1998. As of January 1, 1997, all video poker income is dedicated to construction of the parish’s new prison facility

The Parish receives one-half of all off-track betting (OTB) income or about $909,000 in 1998. These funds are divided among eastbank ($645,932) and westbank ($262,930) council districts based on district population. In 1998, eastbank council members dedicated their share of OTB funds to development of the LaSalle tract, the site of Zephyr Stadium and other planned improvements. In 1999, only one council district will continue to dedicate OTB revenue to the LaSalle tract.

Westbank council members use OTB funds, and all parish proceeds from the Boomtown Belle Riverboat, which totaled $1.7 million in 1998, to support a variety of capital and community projects within their districts. These revenues are termed Council District Improvement/Assistance Funds. Council members have wide discretion in determining the use of these monies.

In 1998, westbank council members shared a total of $2.2 million in parish discretionary funds derived from gaming and a portion of hotel/motel tax revenues also dedicated to westbank council districts. Hotel/motel tax revenue must be used for tourism-related projects.