Buying property from St. Landry Parish is difficult. Leaders want to change that.

The St. Landry Parish Council is examining the advertising process for selling parish government land parcels due to the non-payments of property taxes, aiming to better advertise property available.

The unanimous finance committee resolution, which council attorney Garrett Duplechain said could eventually be modified as an ordinance, will be discussed again before final adoption during the Aug. 17 regular council meeting.

Although the land tracts and buildings available for sale are normally advertised on the parish government website for public viewing, St. Landry Parish council member Wayne Ardoin said he would like for-sale signs to be placed on properties to be sold by parish officials.

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Ardoin said placing signs on property owned by the parish might encourage more potential buyers to engage in the purchasing procedure.

“I remember when we had Civic Source in charge of buying and selling these properties that (parish government) had for sale, that Civic Source would always put a sign out on the property, giving a notification. It better notifies that we have a certain piece of property for sale,” Ardoin told committee members.

During a Thursday interview, Ardoin said he is unsatisfied about the steps in the process currently used for selling off property now owned and maintained by parish government.

“I would like to have a better idea and clearer understanding of the paper trail in the whole process,” Ardoin explained. “I am interested in knowing who is really buying these properties. Who is buying the most properties and whether the people buying the property from the parish are intending to own it. Did a person perhaps use another name to buy the property or did the purchaser flip it, or what? I am just curious about knowing who is making these property purchases.”

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Nancy Carriere said Parish President Jessie Bellard last year indicated parish government had acquired about 1,000 properties that were adjudicated or taken over by parish government due to  non-payment of taxes.

“We have some more properties that are coming up for sale soon, and I think it would be good to have something that will notify the neighbors about what might be going on next door,” Carriere said.

How the current process works

Council members consented in 2021 at Bellard’s request to discontinue using Civic Source as the primary agent for selling parish-owned adjudicated properties and adopt a new advertisement, sale and bidding procedure.

Bellard told council members that the process used by Civic Source normally took months to transact potential land sales.

Due to the high volume of properties that parish government obtained from delinquent taxes, Bellard said it would be more efficient and less costly to allow interested buyers to make deposits on properties that they wanted to purchase and then the land would be sold to the highest bidder.

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Bellard did not criticize the method used by Civic Source. Bellard said, however, that letting parish government to oversee nearly every detail of the property purchases, the advertisement and sale process would move more quickly.

The council has convened several special meetings during the past year when the tracts scheduled for sale were purchased by the highest bidder.

Enforcement director Richard Lewis said during a Wednesday post-meeting interview, that about 75 properties currently owned by parish government are due to be sold during a September meeting.

Lewis was unable to estimate how many properties have already been sold to individuals during the adjudication procedure.

Some of the properties owned by parish government have sold for as little as $500, while others have been purchased for much higher prices, Lewis said.

“We’ve sold one in Melville for $25,000,” Lewis said during the interview.

Bellard arrived at the council meeting room after the finance committee voted to adjourn. Bellard told council members that he missed both committee meetings after inspecting a high water situation in the Whiteville Area.

Missed purchase opportunity

Ardoin said he began to question how adjudicated property was being handled by parish government after a constituent living within his election district contacted Ardoin about buying a piece of property that Lewis said was eventually sold to another bidder for $13,000.

“The man (Kevin Manuel) who had been maintaining the grass on the property, contacted me and told me that he had tried to contact (Lewis) three times about buying the property, but (Manuel) was never able to make a bid,” said Ardoin.

Lewis responded that Manuel had spoken to him three times during phone conversations.

“Manuel said he was coming here (to the parish government office),” Lewis said.

Lewis added that Manuel never did arrive at the parish government to discuss the property or submit a required $500 deposit.

Committee member Jerry Red said he didn’t understand why Manuel had complained about having the property sold to another person.

“(Lewis) had (Manuel) had three chances to come up to the parish government office and put down $500. Whose fault is that? You can’t blame anyone but yourself,” Red added.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: St. Landry Parish property for sale needs better advertising: Council