Three cities, three budgets; multiple problems

June is the month the cities of Broussard, Scott, and Youngsville adopt a budget. If you’ve never attended a budget hearing, you may become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of financial data. Understanding what’s going on takes time, effort, and careful study, and you don’t get that by attending one budget hearing a year.

Citizens for a New Louisiana pays attention to local public bodies year-round. We carefully watch and study what transpires within state and local public bodies, so you don’t have to. But we can’t do it alone! Our work requires the backing and support of people like you, who want reassurance that things are moving in the right direction – or otherwise. We call out bad actions and bad actors on BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE!

Without evidence, others believe elected officials are good stewards of the public purse and abide by the process. How is that working out for you if you are one of those “other” people? The truth is many elected public officials are just as clueless as you are. So don’t be surprised when you see the degree of procedural errors we point out in the article below. Budgeting is a process; like any process, it changes before approval. The most important thing for anyone is to understand the process first.

The Local Government Budget Act

The Local Government Budget Act (LGBA) is a body of legislation adopted in Louisiana in 1980. It outlines the process by which political subdivisions and independently elected officials of the State shall (emphasis added) adopt, implement, and amend their budget. These laws are the minimal requirements that must be adhered to. They require public participation in the process of adopting a complete one-year financial plan.

In this article, we are dealing with three similar-situated political subdivisions. All three are located in the Parish of Lafayette. They are governed by the Lawrason Act and not a home rule or special legislative charter. Their fiscal years run from July of one year until June of the following year. All three propose spending more than $500,000 in the fiscal year. For these reasons, they all operate under the same rules.

Public Participation

If you want public participation, you have to provide PUBLIC NOTICE! As we mentioned earlier, the notice requirements we are about to discuss are minimal. Many people are content with their heads in the sand, while others are very concerned and want to know what is happening. They want to know why their taxes are increasing, why they are experiencing a utility rate hike, and why a particular public works project is being allocated funds and another isn’t. They want answers without having to work for them. When it comes to government or budgets specifically, they just aren’t provided the same kind of notice or information from municipalities that they are for a 4th of July or Christmas event. Would more people attend annual or monthly public meetings if governments marketed them like other public events?

The minimal public notice requirements (LARS 39:1307) are pretty straightforward. At least ten days in advance of the first public budget hearing:

• Provide notice via publication in the official journal that the budget is available for inspection and
• Provide notice via publication in the official journal of the budget hearing date, time, and place.

Other Legal Requirements

Because a budget hearing is an open meeting, each municipality must comply with the notice requirements under Louisiana Open Meetings laws (LARS 42:19). The requirements here are also pretty straightforward. All applicable public bodies having a special meeting:

• Shall give written public notice no later than twenty-four hours before the meeting;
• The notice must include the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting;
• Must be posted at the office of the public body and
• Must be posted on the website of the public body (if they operate a website);

Also, for a political subdivision to adopt a budget, it must introduce and pass a “budget adoption instrument.” The instrument varies depending on the public body. However, our three similarly situated municipalities in this scenario are governed by the Lawrason Act. Under these circumstances, the only proper way to adopt a budget is by ordinance.

Louisiana Revised Statute 33:406(A)(3) provides: “Any act of the board which would provide for the appropriation of funds, the incurrence of debt, or the issuance of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness shall be by ordinance.” A proposed ordinance must be introduced at a public body meeting and reduced to writing. The title must then be published in the official journal, and notice must be provided of the time and place where the body will consider its adoption. So here again, we have yet another public notice requirement, which is required under the law.

How well did the municipalities comply?

The chart below reflects which cities complied with the absolute letter of the law in providing citizens with the proper legal notice related to their recent budget process.

		City of Broussard	City of Scott	City of Youngsville
Date of Published Public Notice of Budget Hearing:		June 2, 2024	June 7, 2024	June 16, 2024
Date of First Budget Hearing:		June 26, 2024	June 26, 2024	June 27, 2024
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET ACT REQUIREMENTS	Published Notice of Inspection in Official Journal	YES	YES	YES
	Published Notice of Public Hearing in Official Journal	YES*	YES	YES
	Notice published in the Official Journal at least ten days in advance of the first hearing.	YES	YES	YES
	Notice published provided date, time, and place of hearing	YES*	YES	YES
OPEN MEETINGS LAW REQUIREMENTS	Written public notice, including the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting, posted at the office of the public body	NOT OBSERVED	NOT OBSERVED	YES
	Written public notice, including the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting, posted on the public body’s website.	YES	YES	YES
LAWRASON ACT ORDINANCE REQUIREMENTS	The written instrument must be introduced at a separate public meeting.	YES	YES	YES
	The ordinance title must be published in the official journal and provide the time and place it will be considered.	YES	NO**	YES
* The notice the City of Broussard provided includes two dates but doesn’t specify when the budget hearing will occur.   ** The notice provided by the City of Scott did not contain the title of the ordinances being considered for adoption and did not make reference to any ordinance up for adoption concerning the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Budget.

While some deficiencies were noted, what is more interesting is that none of the municipalities did anything above and beyond what is required under the law. Again, the law sets minimal standards that must be followed, and they all seem to be content with doing the bare minimum.

A few more issues?

A few more issues were observed at the actual budget hearings or meetings where the budget instruments were adopted. While these items are not violations of the LGBA, they appear to be open meeting violations that could impact the budget’s passage. For instance, any action taken by a public body that is in violation of the Open Meetings Law shall be voidable by a court.

So, what would happen if a court voided the act adopting a municipality’s budget? The most likely answer is nothing significant. The public body would likely start the process over, check all the boxes, and get the exact same budget passed. The law does contemplate a scenario where a public body does not adopt a budget. In that instance, 50% of the amounts appropriated in the last validly passed budget year are deemed re-appropriated.

Over in Youngsville

Some of the deficiencies previously noted occurred in Youngsville. In this instance, the City of Youngsville held a public hearing about the budget before a special meeting an hour later. The major flaw observed here is that Mayor Ken Ritter offered an opportunity for public comment at the public hearing, but when the ordinances came up for adoption at the special meeting, he DID NOT allow public comment.

Louisiana open meetings law provides that the body “shall allow a public comment period at any point in the meeting prior to action on an agenda item upon which a vote is to be taken.” So, before the ordinances could be adopted at the special meeting, there should have been an opportunity for the public to speak IN THAT MEETING. That did not occur. Another deficiency noted was that no oral votes were cast when the body voted on the ordinances. Open meetings law requires “All votes made by members of a public body shall be viva voce and shall be recorded in the minutes, journal, or other official, written proceedings of the body, which shall be a public document.” This also DID NOT occur.

Broussard

Like Youngsville, the City of Broussard conducted a budget hearing separate from its regular meeting, during which the budget was adopted. The meeting, chaired by Mayor Ray Bourque, was very orderly, with opportunities for public comment clearly called for. Aside from the city’s failure to post public notice of the meeting at its principal office and/or in a place where it could be clearly observed, officials did quite well.

Scott

The City of Scott, the only municipality that held the budget hearing jointly with a special meeting, did exceptionally well. Like Broussard, they also had some minor notice deficiencies, but they were also the only municipality that DID NOT have an attorney for the municipality present at the meeting. It was also a much more relaxed environment. Mayor Jan Scott-Richard, instead of asking if there was any public comment, asked if anyone had any questions. Clearly, it was his intent to elicit any statements from the public, whether in the form of a question or not. We can appreciate that as some public bodies refuse to answer questions.

Now that you understand the budget process watch for future publications as we examine the budgets adopted by these three municipalities.

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