Bossier City Council adopts its 2027 budget; sewer rates still need their own vote

Update, Thu., Nov. 5: The council adopted the 2027 budget Tuesday, Nov. 3, after a public hearing where one resident spoke and no council members commented, KTBS and the Bossier Press-Tribune reported. The total budget is about $320.1 million, or about $232.4 million net of sales tax the city passes on to seven other agencies. General Fund operating expenses come to about $83.9 million, up 1.42%. The sewer budget counts on about $3.3 million more from proposed rate increases (16% on the base charge and 29% on usage), but both outlets noted that under the city charter, new rates need a separate ordinance. That ordinance has not passed. The vote count and results on the other agenda items were not reported; we will add them when the minutes post. Our preview from before the meeting follows.

The Bossier City Council is set to take final votes on the city’s 2027 budget today, Tuesday, Nov. 3. The meeting starts at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at 620 Benton Road, according to the meeting agenda. The city livestreams its meetings.

The budget

The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2027 operating and capital budgets, then take final votes on 28 separate fund budgets. They include the General Fund, water, sewer, sanitation, streets and drainage, emergency medical services and the riverboat gaming funds.

The draft budget in the agenda packet shows the 2027 General Fund taking in about $76.4 million and spending about $80.9 million. Transfers in and out bring both sides to about $83.9 million, leaving a small surplus of $13,695 on paper. Public safety is the biggest piece, at about $50.3 million.

The council introduced the budget on Oct. 20. Councilman Chris Smith said then that nearly $3 million was cut to close a projected $1.8 million General Fund gap, The Center Square reported. The minutes show the council voted that day to add back a position in the Diversion Program budget. For more, see our earlier story on 2027 budgets in Bossier City and Shreveport.

Sewer repairs and rates

Two emergency ordinances, each up for first and final reading, would pay for sewer repairs:

• $85,142.84 for repairs to deteriorated manholes on the 42-inch gravity sewer line behind the Veterans Home near ART Parkway.
• $17,350 for a failed sewer main at a manhole near the Relax Inn on Barksdale Boulevard. The agenda packet says the fix included about 75 feet of new pipe.

We did not find a sewer rate ordinance on today’s agenda. In October, KTBS reported that the mayor’s proposed budget included a 16% increase in the sewer base rate and a 29% increase in the usage charge, and that the increase was expected to come to the council as its own ordinance. See our story on the proposed sewer rate increase.

Also on the agenda

• First reading of an ordinance letting the mayor sign agreements with private businesses to give police access to their cameras through the Axon Fusus platform. A vote would come at a later meeting.
• First reading of $165,000 for engineering on the 2027 citywide street improvements project with Waggoner Engineering.
• Final vote on an agreement with the Bossier Parish coroner and sheriff to keep the S.A.N.E. nurse program, which serves sexual assault victims, in Bossier Parish.
• Permit fee waivers for the MLK parade on Jan. 18 and the King Cake Classic 5K on Jan. 23, and the council’s 2027 meeting calendar.

To comment remotely on an agenda item because of a disability, contact City Clerk Phyllis McGraw at 318-741-8509 or [email protected], the agenda says.