VIDALIA, La. – A budget of more than $4 million was approved by the Concordia Parish Police Jury for the year 2000 — an increase of more than $1 million from the previous year.

Most of that increase is due to just over $1 million in state funds the jury has received to make sewer improvements in the Crestview Drive area, said Finance Chairman Cathy Darden.

But the jury’s general fund will face a shortfall in the new year, with only $757,677 in revenues to help pay a projected $865,777 in expenses. &uot;God bless you trying to meet this budget in the next year,&uot;&160;said President Fred Falkenheiner, whose last meeting was Monday. The budget was approved with two changes, the first being a wage increase of 54 cents an hour for parish employees. Second, the jury agreed to pay $2,700 in dues to the Louisiana Police Jury Association and the Kisatchie-Delta Planning and Development District.

Later in the meeting, it was announced that the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service office in Ferriday would hold a meeting Feb. 24 at the Concordia Parish Community Center on Louisiana 15. Citizens are being encouraged to attend the meeting to air their concerns about the parish’s natural resource problems, from drainage woes to water quality problems, said Kevin Bridgewater of the NRCS’ Ferriday office. If there is poor attendance at the meeting or if drainage is the only problem aired, the agency might decide not to fund a $1 million that, with citizen input, would find solutions to natural resource problems, Bridgewater said.

Also in Monday’s meeting, jurors opened two bids for repairing the courthouse’s leaky roof: a $47,396 offer from John Gibbs Roofing System of Bossier City and a $50,000 bid from Continental Roofing of Pascagoula. They gave the jury’s Courthouse and Finance committees permission to accept one of the bids.

The jury also:

— Discussed a proposed noise ordinance for unincorporated areas of the parish.

— Voted to allow the Library Board to work with a bonding attorney on new construction at the Ferriday library.

— Approved health insurance and worker’s compensation plans for parish workers.

— Approved occupational and beer and liquor licenses for G&G Enterprises of Vidalia.

— Approved occupational licenses for Debbie’s Country Touch of Monterey, Big Spankey’s Wrecker Service on the Ferriday-Vidalia Highway and Nichols Car Wash in Wildsville.

— Approved using more than $5,400 in leftover grant money to buy new carpet and blinds for the Police Jury office.

— Authorized the signing of a partnership agreement with the Census Bureau for the 2000 Census.

— Reappointed S.L. Ford, W.R. Boyd Jr., Jim Graves and Levear Book to the Monterey Fire Protection District and Jim Graves and Nolen Cothren to the Northeast Louisiana Resource Conservation and Development District.