District Attorney Hillar Moore III sent a letter to Mayor Kip Holden and the Metro Council today requesting $10 million for his office be added to the $748 million bond proposal Holden is asking the council to put before voters this fall. Moore wants a 10-year, 3.5-mill property tax, which would add $10 million annually to his current $11.6 million operating budget—of which the city-parish provides $4.7 million. Moore says his office has been underfunded for “at least five years,” and is forced to use millions in reserve funds every year.
“I’m not trying to point fingers at the mayor or the council, and this is not something that should come as a surprise to any of them,” Moore says, adding he supports the parish prison and juvenile detention center included in Holden’s proposal. “This is my third year, and all along we’ve indicated that our reserves are dwindling, we’re on a collision course and we need some assistance.”
The reason Moore gives for having waited until today to officially send the request to Holden and the Metro Council is that he didn’t find out until Monday that his office was not included in the bond proposal. Local media and many council members also got their first look at the proposal Monday. A spokesperson for Holden says the mayor has no comment yet on Moore’s request, as he has not reviewed it.
“I have not heard from the mayor yet,” Moore says. “I have heard from a few council members, and all of them said they are very much in support of it.”
The council has until Aug. 10 to approve placing the Mayor’s bond proposal on the Nov. 19 ballot. Though Moore is asking for council support of his proposed bond, he does not need such support to place it on the ballot. Moore says he will consider using his authority to put the bond to voters should the council reject it.
“Quite frankly, this has never been my preferred course of action,” reads Moore’s letter to Holden and the council, referring to the bond proposal, “and I have always considered this to be a last resort.”
