Originally published: . Volume 9, No. 8. Source pages: 7.
According to the online reporting for Louisiana Boards & Commissions, the Psychology Board is on track for 2018 spending totaling $290,063. This represents a substantial decrease from the expenditures in 2017 which came to $400,388.
The boards fund balance for 2018 is listed as a negative $346,800, representing spending from legal fees that had been mounting up for a number of years. The legal fees for 2018 are estimated to be $91,000 whereas in 2017 they were $149,774. Legal fees are projected for 2019 at $52,000.
To help with budgetary concerns, the board laid off the clerical assistant and expenditures for total salaries went from $166,417 in 2017 to a figure for this year which is estimated at $107,037.
The board is self-funded and the state report notes that the actual income from licenses for 2017 was $234,190. Projected 2018 income for license fees should be $259,645, and projected for year 2019 is $258,550.
The primary financial problems for the board have been in legal fees. In January 2017 the Times reported on the skyrocketing legal fees that related primarily to a contract attorney, Mr. James Raines, and the Complaints subcommittee. Mr. Raines had submitted invoices for $52,000 in a short period of time, perhaps as short as six weeks. Before that he had submitted invoices for $66,597 and the board still owed him $44,000. The totals were well over the contract which began at $15,000 and then was raised. In a June 2016 report, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor reported that the board was found to have inadequate controls, under the previous Executive Director.
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