The City of Bogalusa has been paying more than its fair share for the Choctaw Road landfill, and it’s past time for the contract to be re-negotiated, said Councilman Danny Stogner, “speaking as a private citizen” before the council’s finance committee meeting Tuesday.

Stogner spoke just before the meeting actually convened, then immediately left the building. He is not currently a member of the finance committee.

The landfill is a “joint venture” that the City of Bogalusa and the Washington Parish Government first entered into in 1998, according to the paperwork immediately accessible at City Hall.  The percentage each body would be responsible for paying was determined by a formula based on the number of resident households.

A vehicle maneuvers on top of trash at the Washington Parish Landfill Thursday. DAILY NEWS PHOTO/Jacob Brooks Advertisement

“According to the agreement, the parish pays 58.1 percent and the city pays 41.9 percent,” said Stogner.

While that might have been fair in 1998, it’s not fair now, he said.

“The population has changed drastically since Hurricane Katrina,” said Stogner.

The percentages were already off in 2000, when the parish contained a total of 16,497 households, of which 5,431 were in Bogalusa, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

City Administrator Jerry Bailey said those percentages are probably close to accurate today, and that they don’t match the landfill agreement.

“We represent about one third of the parish, yet we’re paying 41.9 percent,” he said.

Stogner said the three-year landfill contract has long since expired, and he asked the finance committee to try to negotiate a new agreement based on the current numbers.

“I think the city is being robbed,” said Stogner. “I ask the finance committee to look into this because everything is out of whack. It’s not fair. We need to re-negotiate to pay our fair share.”

The parish pays for its portion of the maintenance, operations, construction, acquisition and facility improvements with a .67 percent sales tax. The tax, which is not imposed in Bogalusa, is for an indefinite period and generates about $2 million annually.

The city pays for its share with funds generated by a 5-mill ad valorem tax that currently brings in about $330,000 a year, according to Bailey. That tax is due to expire in 2011.

“When we first started, the 5 mills was probably enough,” he said. “The rate we’re paying now is probably two to three times higher than that.”

Bailey said the landfill issue is complex for reasons that include increasing expenses and waste, and because the city does not receive regular financial statements.

With Bogalusa struggling to overcome a deficit, members of the council and the administration are looking for any way possible to decrease expenses and increase revenues.

The finance committee could make a recommendation on the landfill matter during the next regular council meeting Nov. 17.