The Bossier City Council voted in favor of cutting off future city funding to the Bossier Arts Council after the Louisiana Legislative Auditor ruled them noncompliant with state financial reporting laws for three years in a row.
The ordinance passed the introductory vote 6-1. If it passes the final vote on March 17, it will cut off the cooperative endeavor agreement between the city and the nonprofit and force them to vacate the city-owned Old Municipal Building in the East Bank District that they occupy free of charge, moves that the BAC has said would be “the end” of the organization.
The verdict came after weeks of debate and a two-week delay on the ordinance to see if BAC Board Chair Nathan Hicks could get a letter from the LLA saying they are moving toward compliance with state laws requiring annual financial reports or audits from any nonprofits that receive government money. Hicks said Tuesday that he couldn’t get that letter, even after driving down to Baton Rouge to ask for it in person.
“We have done everything that we possibly could within our power to get as far as we possibly can,” he told the City Council. “I’m not going to be anything other than transparent — we are deficient in what I hoped that I could give you. That is the truth.”…