Village of Maurice gets an early $105,000 gift

MAURICE - Recently, the Village of Maurice received a $105,000 gift it was not expecting.
According to the October sales tax report, the Village of Maurice collected $167,162 in sales tax dollars. That amount is $105,000 more than what the Village normally receives. On average, the Village gets $62,000 a month from sales tax dollars.
The $105,000 is one-time money received after the school board did an audit on a company within the Maurice city limits. After the audit, it showed this company (named not released) owed the Village of Maurice $105,000 in sales tax dollars.
With an extra $105,000 in the budget, what does that mean to the Village of Maurice?
According to Village Mayor Wayne Theriot, do not look for the Village of go on a spending spree. He and the aldermen will be taking the more conservative approach.
“Sales tax dollars are dedicated,” said Theriot on Friday. “We are going to put them in the reserves,”
Bottom line, the Village is going to save that money for a rainy day. Theriot said a certain percentage of it will go into the water and sewerage reserve and another percentage of it will go to the police.
“We need to plan for the future and be conservative,” said Theriot.
Without the audit, the Village would have collected around the same amount as last year.
October sales tax collection was not so positive throughout the parish.
The School Board, Police Jury and Sheriff’s Office all had a 15 percent drop in sales tax collections.
The Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission saw its monthly take drop 50 percent. The tourist commission collected $6,200 in October compared to $13,000 a year ago.
The town of Erath had a 13 percent drop in collections. The town collected $19,600 or $4,000 less than last year.
Kaplan also had a negative number in collections. It collected $16,000 or about six percent less than a year ago.
The Kaplan Hospital District had a 23 percent decline, collecting $98,000.
All year, the city of Abbeville has been consistent in collections. The city collected $291,000 which is about 1 percent more than last year.