Mayor Sharon Weston Broome this afternoon will formally present the Metro Council with the first budget proposal of her administration—a standstill 2018 budget that anticipates virtually no revenue growth from sales taxes but promises to direct what little extra funds are available to public safety.
Broome met Thursday with Metro Council members in small groups to walk through the budget in anticipation of today’s formal presentation. In the meetings, the mayor outlined the realities of a $918 million total budget that will increase just 2.3% next year, and a $319 million general operating budget that will be less than 1% bigger than this year’s.
The total budget includes funds that are tied up through dedications to agencies like the Library Board of Control, special taxing districts, debt service and pension benefits. The much smaller general operating budget is what the city-parish actually has to spend on city services.
“A standstill budget means that we have to work smarter and more efficiently in order to provide new and improved services which the public rightfully expects,” Broome says in a statement this morning.
In her presentation to the council Thursday, Broome explained the budget is intentionally conservative based on economists’ projections of decreased sales tax collections in the year ahead. Sales taxes are projected to grow less than $700,000 next year, and property tax collections are projected to decrease by more than $170,000.
Of the $319 million in the general fund, more than half—55%—is allocated to public safety, which includes police, fire, parish prison and juvenile detention facilities. Broome is proposing two new police training academies of 35 recruits each, which is larger than usual, as well as a new fire academy for 25 recruits. If additional revenue is available down the line it will be used to increase recruit pay, she says.
In her presentation to the council, Broome also noted that replacement vehicles for police and fire will be given priority when projected surplus funds from 2017 become available.
A look at the $918 million total budget underscores the extent to which growing pension costs are exacting a toll on the overall health of city-parish finances. Employee and retiree benefit costs, at $106.5 million next year, eat up more than 11% of the total budget. Broome told council members Thursday she plans to contract with an actuarial firm to examine employee and retiree benefits and see if there are ways to reduce costs.
Broome also told the council that the city-parish has incurred at least $75 million in expenses for flood-related costs, $47 million of which has been reimbursed. The city-parish used $6.5 million from a budget stabilization fund to provide a required 10% match, and is still working on securing additional reimbursements.
The budget will be officially presented at 4 p.m. in the Metro Council chambers at City Hall, 222 St. Louis St.
—Stephanie Riegel
