VIDALIA, La. &045; A proposed road tax for Concordia Parish would also provide some money to the Concordia Parish Agricultural Extension Service and the Concordia Parish Council on Aging.

The 1.5 cent sales tax would pull in about $900,000 annually, 5 percent, or $45,000 of which would go to the Agricultural Extension Service and the Council on Aging. Both groups receive the bulk of their money from state and federal government funds that have been decreased in recent years.

&uot;The state has dumped that in our lap,&uot; Concordia Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington said. &uot;In order to keep the LSU Ag Service, we’re going to have to come up with some funds and the Council on Aging as well. They’re both very valuable to us.&uot;

County Agent Glen Daniels said his office could use the influx of money the tax would provide. The Extension Service receives all but $12,000, which the police jury already provides, of its annual budget from the state and federal governments.

&uot;Certainly it would help us. With the budget crisis we’ve had in recent years, any money would go a long way,&uot; Daniels said. &uot;This is the first time we’ve asked the jury for an increase and I’ve been here for 20 years.&uot;

Daniels said programs like the 4-H and nutritional program his office run help out citizens of the parish in all groups, not just farmers.

&uot;We have programs that are second to none,&uot; Daniels said. &uot;With 4-H we help out youth parish-wide. We help homeowners with their lawns and gardens, commercial vegetable growers, all sorts of people. There isn’t a section of the community we don’t help out.&uot;

Like the Agricultural Extension Service, the Council on Aging receives the vast majority of its budget &045; between $250,000 and $300,000 &045; from state and federal governments, Council director Dorothy McDonald said.

The council, which provides home delivery of meals and transportation for some 500 elderly citizens of Concordia Parish each year among its services, has taken hits in its funding the last several years, McDonald said.

&uot;We do need more funds,&uot; McDonald said. &uot;The last three years we’ve had cuts in our state funds. We did get a little extra from the legislature last year, but that ended June 30.&uot;