Port Barre Has Budget Problems – Mayor Not Worried

Port Barre is the latest town to report that they are having some issues with money in the town.  The mayor of Port Barre, Gilfred Savoy, says all in all, he is not that concerned with the situation.

Mayor Savoy says he is aware that some departments are showing some money issues, but he says overall, he does not think the town needs to worry right now.  The mayor says the reason he feels this way is because the town has a balance in their accounts of more than one million dollars.

The State Legislative Audio released their audit findings this week, and those findings showed that two departments are losing money.  The findings included in the town's 2010-11 budget year showed that the town experienced a loss of $183,000 in the operation of its sewage department and a $16,000 loss in the operation of its gas department.

Now the auditors are suggesting that a way to remedy the budgetary issues would be to raise utility rates.  They say if rates are raised then the town could easily cover the 577,000 dollar deficit.  The mayor says it may not be necessary as the town has already started to change policies to correct the issues that the audit found. He says they installed new meters on some of the bigger gas accounts that are for local businesses, and he says that should do the trick to rectify the problem with the deficit.