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LOUISIANA MUNICIPAL ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES LaMATS Celebrates a Quarter-Century of Friendships As LaMATS staff, consultants, and Board of Directors put a bow on our 25th Anniversary Year, we’d like to share a little of the goodwill we’ve been fortunate to receive since January from our friends across the state. We consider the heartfelt thanks and support of those we serve to be the highest rewards for our work, and we’re grateful for every opportunity to help Louisiana’s local governments. With the vision and support of LMA’s 1997/1998 Board of Directors and leadership of then-Executive Director Gordon King, LaMATS launched our inaugural and longest-running service, the Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) collection program, which now includes the majority of Louisiana municipalities and returns tens of millions of dollars to public coffers each year. “LaMATS excels at maintaining open lines of communication with the City of New Orleans by keeping everyone informed and on the same page. [IPT Coordinator] Mary Joseph has shown excellent leadership in the managing of this project.” - Patrice B. Lee-Fleming, Management Specialist at City of New Orleans Throughout the years, LaMATS has worked to find timely solutions to numerous municipal puzzles. We’ve developed a whole suite of services to help with cities’ procurement of goods and services through LaMATS Purchasing Services (LPS). This year, we assisted the Village of Norwood with the renovation of their historic bank building, which also serves as Town Hall. Having received a State Treasury grant, Norwood was under a quick deadline to get the project completed. We helped them with their RFP, contractor selection, and contracting guidance, a tremendous opportunity to bring a lot of valuable services together. “The Village of Norwood was awarded $235,000 to make repairs to our old Town Hall building, which was built in 1904. We were in a time crunch to use this money before the deadline. Not knowing exactly how to handle this situation, I was advised to call Paul Holmes at LaMATS. What a blessing that was! He immediately took charge and guided us through the process. Without his expertise, we would have been in a time dilemma. We do appreciate Paul Holmes at LaMATS for another service provided to the Village of Norwood, as well as all the municipalities associated with LMA.” - The Hon. Rebecca Bellue, Mayor, Norwood We’ve helped local governments retain every penny possible of local revenues, whether from license fees, utility contracts, or rusty piles of scrap metal. With our Surplus Property Program just fifteen months old, we’ve already hit the $1 million mark in sales of decommissioned municipal vehicles, construction equipment, technology assets, and real estate, through our online platform partner Gov- Deals. That’s a million dollars back in the budgets of Louisiana local governments! “…with hands-on, ongoing support and simple-to-use reporting system, our sellers and partners like LaMATS consistently see higher returns than traditional auction methods.” - John Littler, Sr. Manager, GovDeals Helping municipalities recover property tax revenue and valuable real estate through brownfields remediation is one of our newest areas of service. Now two years running, the LaMATS Brownfields Program, in partnership with Louisiana DEQ, has offered a particularly rewarding way to make positive impacts all across the state. “LaMATS has served as the conduit to bring together public, private, nonprofit, and governmental entities; and for the first time in more than a decade, Louisiana is getting funded for brownfields projects. That is entirely because of LaMATS efforts… LaMATS has created a unique awareness and advocacy for the State’s Brownfields program. They’ve been able to provide the technical competency so that smaller municipalities can apply. And to be fair, those are the ones that typically will need the most help. And so, LaMATS advocacy work has really opened the door for communities all over the state. That’s really a testa- Page 24 LMR | DECEMBER 2023
ment to the success of this program.” - Dr. John Sutherlin, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs and Research, University of Louisiana at Monroe Some of the longest and most worthwhile relationships LaMATS has made in the past quarter century are with our friends at LMA’s many affiliate organizations, including the Louisiana Municipal Clerks Association (LMCA); the Louisiana Association of Municipal Secretaries and Assistants (LAMSA); and the Louisiana Recreation & Parks Association (LRPA). As in years past, LaMATS has been proud to sponsor numerous 2023 association conferences and continuing education for members of these and other important professional service organizations - truly the lifeblood of local government administration. “The Mayor Eugene Smith Memorial La- MATS Scholarship has been a Godsend and a great help to the LMCA as well as to the municipalities that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to send their clerks to the institute to get the much-needed education to help them in their jobs. The clerks that attend the institute gain knowledge about how to prepare ordinances, motions and resolutions, ethics, public bid law, and surplus property just to name a few, but one of the best values of the scholarship is the relationships that are developed between fellow clerks.” - Lora Johnson, President, LMCA “With the support of LaMATS through scholarships and sponsorships, LMCA has been able to continue Empowering Municipal Clerks by way of education.” - Meshaun Arcenaux, Public Relations Officer, Napoleonville “LaMATS has been a tremendous contributor to the continued success of the LAM- SA organization. A staple in the LAMSA family, we value the support and assistance that LaMATS has given us over the years and are forever thankful to them.” - Constance Barbin, LCMA, CAP, PM, City Clerk, City of St. Gabriel “Happy Anniversary LaMATS! I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the unwavering support from Cliff and his team… LaMATS’ support motivates us to keep learning and develop those personal connections, so we can better assist our community. LaMATS is not just an ‘organization,’ they are our family. Thank you for being a part of our family. LAMSA wouldn’t be where we are today without you.” - Kristine Scherer, Council Clerk, City of Mandeville and LAMSA Conference Coordinator “LaMATS has been instrumental in supporting the Louisiana Recreation and Park Association by providing sponsorships for their conferences, helping to enhance the quality and reach of these important events. Through their sponsorship, La- MATS has played a pivotal role in enabling the association to organize successful conferences, fostering networking opportunities, and facilitating knowledge sharing among professionals in the recreation and park industry. Additionally, La- MATS extended its support to the association’s first ‘Parks & Rec Day at the Capitol’ event, ensuring a platform for members to advocate for parks and recreation funding and policies, thereby strengthening the voice of the association and positively impacting the community.” - Susanne Diez, LRPA Executive Director After twenty-five years in service, La- MATS is really just getting started! We look forward to the next quarter century with wonder at what the future holds for Louisiana’s local governments. No doubt there will be challenges and surprises along the way, but with the gift of our great partnerships and long friendships to guide us, I know we’ll see them through together. We send our sincerest thanks. by Cliff Palmer LaMATS Executive Director Palmer leads the Louisiana Municipal Advisory and Technical Services Bureau (LaMATS) - a subsidiary of LMA. He can be reached at cpalmer@lamats.net. LMR | DECEMBER 2023 Page 25
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December 2023

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