Judge Approves Fiscal Administrator for Town of Sterlington

A fiscal administrator has been appointed to oversee the Town of Sterlington’s finances. I.M. Shelton, Jr., was named to the position August 2 by District Judge Alvin R. Sharp.

Shelton is the former mayor of Central, Louisiana. He was a small business owner for 36 years and a residential Realtor for four years. He now works in commercial real estate. Shelton’s appointment was made in response to the actions of the state Fiscal Review Committee, which voted unanimously in February to ask the court to name a fiscal administrator for Sterlington.

Among other testimony, committee members heard that Sterlington had $20 million in debt, largely because of a sports complex it built, and had defaulted on debt payments due in December 2018. In addition, the Town was projected to have a significant deficit in 2019, which would leave it unable to make all of its debt payments.

A fiscal administrator also was appointed in May to oversee the City of Bogalusa’s finances. Albert J. “Joey” Richard III was appointed by District Judge William J. “Rusty” Knight on May 31. Richard is the managing member of Richard CPAs, LLC, and has worked in public accounting for more than 40 years.

His appointment also was in response to the actions of the Fiscal Review Committee in February, which voted unanimously to ask the court to name a fiscal administrator for Bogalusa. At that meeting, committee members learned that Bogalusa had a $22.4 million net liability for its pension system, as well as a $2 million estimated liability for landfill operations, both of which were continuing to increase.

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said his office would work with both fiscal administrators to provide whatever assistance is necessary to help Sterlington and Bogalusa improve and stabilize their finances.