Shreveport’s current budget talks are not happening in a vacuum. They are built on years of decisions made long before Mayor Tom Arceneaux stepped into office. During a recent conversation with KEEL News, he reflected on how a major move made under the Perkins administration still reaches into today’s financial landscape.
Back in 2021, city leaders approved a 13 percent across the board raise for all municipal employees. At the time, even top officials expressed concern that the increase would be hard to sustain. According to Mayor Arceneaux, those concerns turned out to be well founded.
“It kept us from being able to make pay raises for several years,” he said, noting that the decision reshaped the city’s operations for multiple budget cycles. While the increase provided immediate relief for workers, it also placed long term pressure on city revenue. “We struggled through several years as a result of it,” he added.
How That One Vote Affected Later Shreveport Budgets
The mayor explained that after the 13 percent raise, Shreveport had far less flexibility. Routine adjustments that normally happen every year or two became nearly impossible. Departments had to work with tighter margins and fewer options…