VIDALIA — The members of the Concordia Parish Police Jury voted Monday to forward the Recreation District No. 1’s audit to the district attorney for review.

The move comes after the Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a report earlier this month alleging that the recreation district’s director used equipment for personal use, that the district contracted with a family member of the former board chair, that board members received excessive compensation and that public funds were donated without proper documentation, among other things.

The report alleges that approximately $150,000 in district money may have been misused.

Police Juror Jerry Beatty initially made a motion about the matter to freeze all district spending, completely disband the recreation board and turn the matter over to District Attorney Brad Burget for review.

While the other police jurors agreed that the matter needed to be reviewed, they stopped short of advocating for the total disbandment of the board, and Juror Joe Parker said the police jury does not have the authority to freeze all spending in the district.

The recreation district is appointed by the police jury, but operates independently.

“If the district attorney comes back with a recommendation that we consider disbanding, then I have no problem with it,” Parker said. “I think the board is under new leadership, and (with) the new leadership it is under, I don’t think they would do anything without talking to the police jury and the district attorney.”

Beatty said his concerns extend beyond the current bad audit.

“In 10 years, that (recreation) tax got $110,000 a year, and that’s over $1 million,” he said. “We don’t have a swing to show for it.”

Beatty said it’s also difficult to attend recreation board meetings because “they have no meetings.”

In other news:

4The jury voted to send a letter to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office expressing concern about the possible use of ankle monitors rather than jail for some pre-trial arrestees.

Residents in the audience expressed concern about a juvenile who has been “terrorizing” the Clayton community while he is out of jail but being tracked on an ankle monitor. Clayton Police Chief Bobby Madison said he has spoken with the people running the monitoring program and the problem appears to be that they are not charging up the monitor.

“I think they need to find a better system for it,” Madison said.

4Police Jury Vice President Whest Shirley said the property taxes for the parish were down between 4 and 6 percent, and sales taxes were down approximately $150,000.

Severance taxes are also down slightly, he said.