EP Tax Commission sets bereavement policy, sees red with ending of PPEC’s construction

By: MICHAEL BORDELON

News Editor

The Evangeline Parish Sales/Use Tax Commission approved bereavement time for employees during its meeting Wednesday, May 28.

Administrator Mike Veillon said the commission was fortunate enough over the last 16 years not to have a death in anyone’s immediate family. However, one employee recently faced the loss of their father and Veillon realized the tax commission did not have a policy in place for these kinds of events.

Since most employers offer three days for bereavement, Veillon suggested the tax commission board offer the same. The commission agreed to allow three days bereavement, and authorized Veillon to extend that leave if necessary. The extension of bereavement time was suggested in such cases as someone losing a child.

In other business, the board:

•Agreed to advertise for bids for a new server and off site backup of information. Veillon said the off site backup was important because the commission had already faced a situation where it lost large amounts of information due to hardware problems. This off site backup, according to Veillon, would make a backup of information every night.

•Learned the parish has received $5,937,323 in tax collections due to the Pine Prairie Energy Center (PPEC) project. Of that, $742,000 was collected by assessment and another $13,000 is expected in the near future.

•Agreed to allow Veillon to off-load surplus equipment as donations to public bodies around the parish.

•Learned only Pine Prairie and Chataignier were in the black in tax collections when compared to the same time last year. Veillon said this downward trend is expected with the ending of the PPEC construction.