Soileau amends EPSO budget; to borrow money for department

Last Thursday, Evangeline Parish Sheriff Eddie Soileau held a public meeting to amend his office’s current budget, and to adopt a resolution to borrow money for his department, which is facing financial woes at this time.
This meeting came just two and a half weeks after the sheriff was forced to layoff 14 employees and an investigation into the budget shortfalls began.
At the September 8, 2016 meeting the overall anticipated revenue that was budgeted for the year ending June 30, 2017 was increased from $2,259,706 to $2,271,195.
The revenue that the sheriff’s office brings in for the feeding and keeping of prisoners, which is paid for by the Evangeline Parish Police Jury, is the only revenue source that was increased.
In the original budget for the year, the sheriff anticipated that $58,774 would be paid to his department for maintaining prisoners, but the amended budget shows that the sheriff now plans to take in $70,263.
As for the expenditures, the amounts anticipated to be spent in seven different areas have decreased. Those areas include: salaries and payroll taxes, pension, health insurance, fuel and oil, maintenance, administration materials, and prisoner feeding.
These adjustments bring Soileau’s overall expenditures down from $2,396,023 to $2,146,605.
If all goes as planned, the sheriff would experience a surplus of $124,590 for the year ending June 30, 2017.
However, even though the budget shows a potential surplus by the year’s end, improper bookkeeping that was recently discovered at the sheriff’s office is forcing Soileau to look outside of his department for money to get make it through the year.
Part of the sheriff’s financial problems could also possibly be a direct effect of former Chief Civil Deputy Rebecca Devillier illegally diverting funds to herself and other employees.
According to a Louisiana Legislative Audit, Devillier, whose probing date is set for Sept. 22 and trial date for Oct. 3, diverted “funds totaling at least $108,976 to herself and possibly to other EPSO employees for personal use from August 17, 2011 to September 30, 2014.”
On Thursday, September 15, 2016, the sheriff will travel to Baton Rouge to seek financial help to make up for his department’s losses.
Soileau, along with Evangeline Parish Tax Assessor Dirk Deville and his employee Josh Fontenot, will address the State Bond Commission and ask to be allowed to borrow an amount of money not exceeding $1,000,000.
This money, according to the resolution, will be “for the purpose of paying the costs of current operations” that are paid for with money from the general fund.
If the sheriff’s request is granted then he will be required to pay back the amount borrowed plus interest by April 1, 2017.