COVINGTON, La. — The St. Tammany District Attorneys’ Office is suing the parish it represents. This comes two days after Northshore voters rejected the latest tax proposal to fund the office.
"I’m disappointed, but I’m not shocked.” That was DA Warren Montgomery’s reaction to the tax failing at the polls.
“I couldn’t tell you all the reasons that it didn’t pass,” Montgomery said. “I’m sure there is more than one reason. People on the Northshore don’t like taxes.”
Saturday's referendum was a fifth attempt to persuade St. Tammany voters to pass a tax for the DA’s office. The proposal would have levied a seven-tenths of a penny sales tax. The parish council allocated $3.1 million to the DA's criminal side for this year.
That was less than half of the $6.4 million dollars the office requested. Montgomery says under Louisiana law, the parish is obligated to pay the “reasonable and necessary” expenses of the district attorney’s office.
Late Monday, he filed a lawsuit to force the parish to do just that, hoping to avoid dramatic cuts to his office.
“If at the end of the day, I don’t have the money to pay my salary and co-workers salary, we’ll cross that bridge,” Montgomery said. “I’m hopeful we’re going to be able to resolve this, unfortunately through litigation.”
In 2018, parish voters let a pair of sales taxes expire that funded the district attorney’s office and parish jail.
“I haven’t run those calculations, so I can’t tell you how long I’ll be able to limp along,” Montgomery said. “But at the moment, we’re going full bore ahead with our work to keep the people of St. Tammany Parish safe.”
Former DA Walter Reed sued Washington Parish in a similar case over funding in 1988. The Louisiana Supreme Court ultimately rendered a judgment in favor of the DA’s office.
St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper released a statement saying. “Our highly regarded safety and quality of life are a direct correlation with our efficient criminal justice system. We will continue to meet with our stakeholders and take every necessary step to restore revenue that was lost in 2018.”
In the meantime, DA Montgomery says he has no immediate plans to bring another tax proposal before the voters.