By now the Christmas tidings of good joy along with best wishes for the New Year are a memory, and the business world is back to the challenging reality of making a profit in the Shreveport economy. For many, the goal is to maintain current staffing and payrolls after a dismal 2016 with faint hopes of some improvement; for some it’s a matter of further reductions in an effort to “hang on.” Despite the inevitable cheerleading from the numerous economic development entities in the area (who in and of themselves represent a highly paid yet somewhat under-performing cottage industry), there is very little solid news to encourage business owners who look to objective criteria in their business planning.

One looks no further than the recently released report of 24/7 Wall Street, a New York-based online financial publication, to confirm what is known by most coffee shop regulars: Shreveport/Bossier has been losing jobs for quite some time. The 24/7 report covered the 12-month span from October 2015 through October 2016, and it identified the fastest-growing – and slowest-growing – economies based on employment. Unfortunately, Shreveport/Bossier was the fourth highest area in job losses during that period; employment in this area declined 2.35 percent from 180,977 to 176,731. The unemployment rate in this metro area was 6.8 percent at the end of October 2106; the national unemployment at that time was 4.9 per cent.

The budget adopted by the Shreveport City Council in December projected another year of declining sales tax revenues; depending on the trickle down impact of the new Trump administration, real economy recovery for Shreveport is probably a year or even longer away. In the meantime, the city budget will continue to be stressed by increases in health insurance coverage, mandated payments for under-funded retirement plans, the EPA consent decree for water/ sewage improvements and general inflation. The Tyler administration has cobbled together a budget that stretches through all city departments to attempt to maintain the status quo with less dollars.

It’s not a question of ‘if’ major belt tightening is needed on Shreveport’s budget, but ‘when.’”

In its last meeting of 2016, the Council elected James Flurry as its next president. Flurry led the unsuccessful effort to save over a half-million tax dollars by cutting the budget of the Shreveport Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission by 35 percent; the vote failed four to three (after a recount and a reconsideration); nonetheless, Flurry made it clear that the expenditure of tax dollars needed serious review. His re-appointment of Councilman Mike Corbin as chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee sets the table for the Council to force the mayor to make major changes in many city departments that are long overdue.

Many knowledgeable observers believe that the city should give serious consideration to closing many under-utilized parks and green spaces along with two or three fire stations. Other expenditures that should bear close scrutiny include the city’s contributions to the Independence Bowl, The Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), the planned development of The Shreveport Common and the support for the two Mardi Gras parades as well as the African-American parade. All of these are “sacred cows” to many, although tax dollars expended in these areas (along with large sums spent in cutting grass on the growing number of adjudicated properties) would pay for police cars and garbage trucks that are being financed, needed employee pay raises and street improvements without a bond issue that may be in the works.

Hopefully, the Council will have the backbone to not only recommend major budget reductions, but to actually amend the 2017 budget in the first quarter. Corbin, Oliver Jenkins and Jeff Everson are all term-limited and, thus, re-election considerations should not be a factor in their decision-making; Everson is, however, considering a mayoral run in 2018 so he may ride the fence in fear of alienating voter support. Stephanie Lynch has been an outspoken critic of the city budget since her 2016 election, although her back-tracking on the MPC budget sends a conflicting message. Flurry will probably make the hard votes for fiscal restraint; how Jerry Bowman will vote is an open question. Councilman Willie Bradford has generally been a Tyler ally, although he did cast the only “no” vote on Tyler’s selection of Alan Crump as the permanent police chief.

It’s not a question of “if” major belt tightening is needed on Shreveport’s budget, but “when”; Mayor Tyler cannot be counted on to make what will, in effect, be a radical departure from longentrenched city spending habits. The proverbial can has been kicked down the road too long; hopefully, 2017 will see Shreveport’s government and the services it provides “right sized” for what is now a shrinking city – in both population and sales tax revenue.

John E. Settle Jr. is an attorney who has practiced in Shreveport- Bossier since 1977. His columns have appeared in local publications for more than 15 years. He can be reached at 742-5513 or mailto:[email protected].