Cromer, City Council may have great Christmas present
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer and the City Council could be looking at a very important decision later this year, but also, one that any public officials would love to face.
It was a year ago when the steadily strong Slidell sales tax revenue soared to an unbelievable level, and the city got to figure out what to do with approximately $5 million in surplus money at the end of the year. Most of it went to new recreational facilities, drainage related projects, the police department and capital improvements.
The $5 million surplus was the biggest ever in city history, and it followed a surplus in Cromer’s first two years in office that was over $2 million in 2019 and 2020.
Now, with three months left in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the sales tax numbers continue to amaze city officials and the prospects of a $6 million surplus appears to be a realistic possibility for Cromer and the City Council to grapple with.
Four members of the Slidell City Council will be new faces who were elected in the spring and will be inaugurated to step into office on July 1. They will be greeted with a rosy financial picture for the city that has continued since Cromer was elected four years ago.
“All I can say is we are very fortunate that things continue to go so well,” said Cromer. “Of course, all this inflation is probably affecting it since folks are having to spend more for everything, but from our standpoint it’s giving us the opportunity to do some things the city needs.”
Currently for fiscal year 2022, through nine months, the city is running 10.16 percent ahead of last year’s figures. The year-end sales tax budget was set at $21.4 million, and if the next three-month totals only match what happened in April through June of 2021 then the city will finish with a final revenue total of $27.4 million, or 7.5 percent higher than budgeted.
That would give the city a surplus of approximately $6 million, which must be spent on one-time expenditures, not any expenses that would be annually recurring items.
“We have put money into reserves in past years with the surpluses, and the first thing for us to do with whatever money we have this time is to check those balances,” Cromer said. “Then the council members and I will sit down and talk about what we all believe is important. For me, I think we should look at infrastructure and capital projects that are needed, and then see what else we can do. But first we have to be sure how much money we are looking at.”
While it is hard to pinpoint the exact areas of sales the city is seeing huge increases in, Cromer has repeatedly noted the positive attitude of residents here, plus a growing number of out-of-towners coming to shop in Slidell, as the reason for the huge numbers.
“It’s pretty clear people feel good about the direction of the city, and we are seeing more people visit Slidell to shop,” Cromer said.
After Cromer and the council put away a large portion of the surplus dollars in 2019 and 2020, Cromer elected to spend it last year, putting several million dollars into upgraded recreational facilities for the city. Slidell is now in the process of completely rebuilding the tennis courts on Sgt. Alfred Drive, upgrading facilities at John Slidell Park, and will build brand new pickle ball courts and the first ever skate park in Slidell at Fritchie Park.
Cromer and the non-profit public watchdog group, Stand Up St. Tammany, recently announced a partnership that has kicked off a complete recreation park upgrade for all of Slidell that is expected to elevate Slidell’s rec park situation to a standard with any others in the state, all without raising any taxes. Some of the surplus this year may be used to support that plan as Cromer has promised to make recreation a top priority for Slidell kids.
During the current 2021-2022 fiscal year that ends June 30, Slidell has watched sales tax numbers grow almost every month.
Sales tax grew in each of the first eight months of the fiscal year, starting last July, with double digit increases each of those years. The only concern might be the most recent reported number from March when sales tax went down by a half percent, however, judging by the consistent big increases in the past few years it seems more likely that March was an unusual dip that may not last.
The trend for strong sales tax growth continues parishwide with Mandeville at an 11.15 percent increase in the past nine months, Covington at a 16.82 percent increase, Pearl River up 5.72 percent, Madisonville up 14.7 percent, and Abita Springs up 22.31 percent.