In a nearly dead-split vote, the Bossier City Council has decided to delay its decision on the ordinance to cut funding to the Bossier Arts Council and evict them from their space in a city-owned building in the East Bank District.
People were overflowing into the Bossier City Hall lobby from the courtroom where the meeting was held — according to a show of hands, nearly everyone was there to oppose the ordinance. If approved, it would sever all agreements between the city and the BAC, which would cut off $80,000 they’re slated to get from the city and evict them from the old Bossier City Municipal Building they occupy free of charge — moves that would “end” the nonprofit, the organization said in a statement.
The ordinance was spurred by advice from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, a state agency that has listed the BAC as noncompliant for three straight years with state financial reporting requirements for nonprofits that receive state or local government money…