Maybe both Bossier City and Bossier Parish could use their portions of nearly a million dollars on something better than an outdated local government agency that acts like a bank with public dollars.
At its meeting earlier this month, the parish’s Police Jury reappointed three members to the Bossier Public Trust Financing Authority for four-year terms that would expire at the end of the month. The governing board has two other members whose terms end in a couple of years for the agency created in 1979 to issue mortgages for single-family housing, serviced through area financial institutions. Reappointments will have to be ratified by Bossier City prior to term ends.
In its early years it issued several such bond issues, but since then largely has fallen into disuse. Technically it is a component unit of Bossier City, but in reality it essentially operates as an adjunct of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Fund as its board members all are GBEDF directors and its agent Rocky Rockett is the GBEDF executive director. None receive compensation, although the Authority pays out administration fees and professional fees presumably for its simplified audit annually for the state’s legislative auditor.
The forms are a bit cryptic. Assets are cash or investments in the general fund, while until 2020 what is designated an “other” fund also held a balance, reflecting an outstanding loan. That was paid off, and today leaves about 80 percent of about $855,000 invested in instruments and the rest in cash.
Given that this fund at best has outlived any usefulness and at worst does something the private sector already does, there are much better uses of these dollars. Bossier City just created a new vehicle to allow for infrastructure improvements due to growth, that’s not a bad idea for it to use its share of this pot. And Bossier Parish has plenty of one-time uses as well.
It would be a useful exercise for both bodies to review all outstanding such entities and determine whether they do anything that couldn’t be done elsewhere inside or outside of government. And, as they should do with this one, come up with an exit strategy. There’s no reason to delay that vetting.
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