GUEYDAN - What was supposed to be a routine city council meeting lasted for hours Tuesday night, with raised voices, surprise revelations, and residents asking Mayor Jude Reese for transparency.
The top concern for many residents going into the Gueyday council meeting was a proposed $5 water and sewer rate increase; however, before the city council members were able to discuss these added charges, it was revealed that the city’s electricity bill was five months overdue earlier this year.
The city's bill is all caught up now, but from November 15, 2023 to March 15, 2024, the city owed Cleco - the electricity provider at the time, more than $340,000. At the time, the city was collecting money from paying customers.
Last year, according to the town's 2023 audit, the city charged customers $1.6 million for electricity; however, the total operating expenses for electricity in the town was $1 million. The city gained a net income of $537,738 from their electricity operation - but there were shortfalls in other utilities. The operating loss for gas totaled $25,369, sewer $28,485, and water $87,876.
KATC asked the mayor how they got to this point and Reese said, “we just didn’t have funds to pay that bill.” When asked to elaborate on how that was possible, he said, “expenses were so high and the costs were higher and the expenses were (budgeted) at the same level since 2019.”
Reese told KATC he knew about the shortfall for some months but was working with Cleco to address the financial problem, and he said that now the city's bill is all caught up.
Back to the transparency issue, residents were not the only ones who said they were left in the dark; city council members told KATC they were not aware of the $340,000 shortfall until April 2024.
“We were going through the numbers and we found out that we were going to have to borrow a little over $300,000 from our savings and that’s when we started asking questions because up until that point, we were paying bills so we thought everything is going great,” Gueydan Councilwoman Laurel Portie said.
We asked Portie if she felt she had been left in the dark.
“I don’t necessarily think the mayor left us in the dark because obviously being a mayor is not an easy job and you know with numbers and everything like that. I just feel like what happened was a little more irresponsible than anything that was shady,” she said.
Another point of contention in the meeting was the increase in water and sewer rates. In Mid-August, the city introduced the ordinance in hopes to increase the town’s recurring revenue by $80,000. The mayor attributes the sudden increase to high chemical costs.
For years, residents in Gueydan have paid a $20 flat rate for unlimited water usage instead of using a meter system. That means your bill is always $20 per month, regardless of how much water you use.
Gueydan is the only city in Vermilion Parish operating under this system. After extensive research, KATC found that across Acadiana, there are only three cities/towns using this system - Krotz Springs, Melville (they are in the process of getting meters), and Lake Arthur.
Council members approved the increase water rates but the motion to increase sewer rates failed.
One resident shared her frustration, telling the mayor “We're in the debt we’re in because of the decision you make.”
With inflation on the rise, residents questioned whether this one-time increase will turn into a recurring scenario. “You’re going to have to do this again because I’m telling you, these prices ain’t going down,” a resident said.
The mayor said no.
During the three hour city council meeting, residents discussed the possibility of reintroducing recorded town hall meetings and posting the videos online. Councilwoman Portie was in favor of this decision and expressed that other members on the board were against the idea.
Residents argued that not everyone can’t make it to the meeting so having a video option would be best.
Long-time Gueydan Resident Ursula Maxile is hoping the entire truth comes out soon.
“The town councilmen and the mayor are not on the same page and what we’re still waiting for is for a lot of things to be answered like money that was spent without authorization from the town councilmen,” she said.
