News Flash

Mayor's Press Releases

Posted on: November 5, 2020

Mayor Broome Presents 2021 Operation Budget

BATON ROUGE, La. — November 5, 2020 — Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome presented the 2021 Budget to the Metropolitan Council Thursday during the annual Special Budget Meeting. 

 

“While 2020 has brought many challenges to our community, we continue to be resilient. Even though we have had to prepare and respond to multiple tropical weather events and experienced a decline in revenues this year due to the global pandemic, we have taken advantage of federal and state funding opportunities and exercised prudent fiscal management to produce cost savings, avoiding service interruptions to our citizens,” said Mayor Broome. 

 

The uncertainties surrounding the full economic impact of COVID-19 have created additional challenges in the preparation of this budget; the City-Parish has worked with local economists from Louisiana State University to prepare the anticipated revenue forecast. 

 

The presented budget will authorize approximately $982 million in spending, with $318 million being for general operating purposes. The remaining $664 million is lawfully dedicated for specific purposes. 

 

The 2021 budget will utilize $9.4 million in reserves to support 3 percent of proposed spending in order to protect against reducing service levels for the citizens of East Baton Rouge or raising taxes and fees because of the temporary revenue decline related to the pandemic.

 

Based on revenue estimates, the proposed budget for 2021 for all funds, exclusive of operating transfers between funds, totals $982,114,922, amounting to a decrease of $24,631,418 or 2.45% from the 2020 budget.  

 

Summary of 2021 Budget:

  • Public safety remains a top priority for the City-Parish. Additional training academies for the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) and the Baton Rouge Fire Department (BRFD) to meet ongoing recruitment needs. In 2021 we will implement efficiency measures identified by national law enforcement experts earlier this year to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The implemented efficiency measures will provide funding for a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase for sworn police personnel, which is the first step to bring compensation for BRPD officers in line with their peers. In order to maintain adequate staffing levels due to growing health emergencies, funds are allocated for 32 additional medics in the 2021 budget; additional staffing will provide funding to place three emergency transport vehicles into service. 
  • The Broome Administration has developed and implemented a “Whole Community” All-Hazards Recovery Strategy to help us become stronger and more resilient should we face another disaster such as the flood of 2016. Work on our parish’s first comprehensive Stormwater Master Plan is in the last phase of completion. We are already utilizing information obtained to model and evaluate our infrastructure, identify critical drainage improvement projects, and identify and correct maintenance issues in our stormwater collection system. This plan will be the City-Parish’s guide as we manage $655 million in drainage improvements underway, including major projects such as the Comite River Diversion project, and work on our five major tributaries. These major projects will greatly reduce potential flood risk for many residents and businesses.
  • Improving transportation and infrastructure is essential for the growth of the City-Parish. The 2021 budget includes projects within the MOVEBR program — the largest infrastructure, mobility enhancement, and traffic mitigation program in the parish’s history — such as the implementation of traffic signal upgrades and laying fiber optic cable to provide for traffic light synchronization. The City-Parish is simultaneously equipping all 470 signals with new technology that allows emergency responders to pre-empt traffic signals, turning the signals green in advance of their approach, allowing the emergency responders to reach destinations quicker. This will reduce response time and prevent accidents by clearing traffic ahead of emergency vehicles. Synchronization should be complete in two years with some major corridors, like Florida Boulevard and Perkins Road, being completed by the end of 2021.
  • Economic development is critical to expanding our revenue base. In 2020, our region experienced a loss in jobs as a result of COVID-19. However, it is expected that Baton Rouge will make a full recovery mainly driven by large turnarounds that have been delayed, which are expected to add approximately 17,300 new jobs in 2021 and another 5,800 in 2022. According to local economists, the Baton Rouge area should be one of three in the state to recover all jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2022. 
  • Improving quality of life and quality of place remain a priority. Our new Mental Health and Substance Abuse Center, which will open at this year’s end, will provide citizens and our first responders with a place to bring those experiencing crisis.
  • Beautification initiatives such as Operation Fresh Start, the parish-wide litter abatement and beautification campaign, along with the Blight Strike Team are experiencing success by removing eyesores from our environment. Continued funding for Build Baton Rouge is providing ongoing revitalization efforts within disinvested parts of our community. Through partnership and collaboration with public, private, and non-profit community organizations, we will continue to invigorate and rejuvenate our communities.

The Metropolitan Council will hold budget hearings during November, and a special meeting will be held on December 8th, for the adoption of the 2021 Annual Operating and Capital Budget. View Mayor Broome’s proposed 2021 budget here.

Proposed 2021 Budget (PDF)
Facebook Twitter Email

Other News in Mayor's Press Releases

Community Connection

Posted on: September 22, 2023

Same Day Hiring Event!

Posted on: September 20, 2023

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: August 29, 2023

Community Safety Planning Lab

Posted on: July 17, 2023

Upcoming Summer of Hope Events

Posted on: July 8, 2023

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: June 29, 2023

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: June 26, 2023

Baton Rouge Juneteenth Holiday

Posted on: June 16, 2023

Comite River Cleaning Underway

Posted on: April 11, 2023

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: March 27, 2023

HOME ARP Draft Action Plan Forums

Posted on: March 16, 2023

Open Data Day 2023 Virtual Event

Posted on: February 28, 2023

Update on Today's Rain Event

Posted on: January 29, 2023

Redstick Rising

Posted on: January 10, 2023

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: September 27, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: September 16, 2022

Blight Month and Blight Bootcamp

Posted on: August 30, 2022

Amite and Comite Projects Announced

Posted on: August 18, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: July 11, 2022

Baton Rouge Juneteenth Holiday

Posted on: June 13, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: June 8, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: May 23, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: May 18, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: May 5, 2022

Hurricane Preparedness Week

Posted on: May 2, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: April 13, 2022

City-Parish Offices to Close at Noon

Posted on: March 22, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: March 16, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: March 15, 2022

Statement by Mayor Broome

Posted on: February 25, 2022

Wintry Mix Possible This Week

Posted on: January 19, 2022

Mayor Broome Appoints New Fire Chief

Posted on: December 23, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: November 22, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: November 15, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: September 24, 2021

Mayor Broome Extends Curfew

Posted on: September 3, 2021

Mayor Extends Curfew

Posted on: September 3, 2021

Ice Distribution Site at Noon

Posted on: September 3, 2021

Mayor Broome Extends Curfew

Posted on: September 2, 2021

Mayor Broome Extends Curfew

Posted on: August 30, 2021

Mayor Broome Implements Curfew

Posted on: August 29, 2021

Pre-Landfall Shelter Opened

Posted on: August 29, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: July 19, 2021

City-Parish Monitoring Invest 92L

Posted on: June 17, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: June 11, 2021

Hurricane Season 2021 Begins

Posted on: June 1, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: May 17, 2021

Statement from Mayor Broome

Posted on: April 26, 2021

Winter Storm Debris Removal Underway

Posted on: February 19, 2021

Emergency Shelters and City-Parish Offices

Posted on: February 16, 2021

Curfew Issued for East Baton Rouge Parish

Posted on: February 15, 2021

HURRICANE ZETA AND GARBAGE SERVICES

Posted on: October 27, 2020

Mayor Broome Announces Citizen Data Academy

Posted on: September 22, 2020

Geaux Get Healthy Launches Year Three

Posted on: September 21, 2020

Mayor Broome Declares Parish-Wide Emergency

Posted on: September 13, 2020

Stormwater Master Plan Virtual Open House

Posted on: September 2, 2020

City-Parish Buildings Remain Closed

Posted on: August 25, 2020

Mayor Broome to Extend Mask Order

Posted on: July 28, 2020

Tropical Weather Trending

Posted on: July 23, 2020

Real Time Crime Center Gets Major Donation

Posted on: December 11, 2019

Baton Rouge Healthy Food Retail Initiative

Posted on: November 20, 2019

2019 Capital Region Veterans Parade

Posted on: November 11, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: October 22, 2019

Baton Rouge Veteran’s Parade 2019

Posted on: October 7, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: October 7, 2019

Mayor Broome Kicks Off MOVEBR Program

Posted on: September 24, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: August 19, 2019

Tropical Storm Barry Updates

Posted on: July 14, 2019

Invest 92L Preparations

Posted on: July 9, 2019

Gulf Tropical Disturbance Update

Posted on: July 8, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: May 30, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: April 24, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: March 27, 2019

MOHSEP Monitoring Rising Mississippi River

Posted on: February 28, 2019

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR-PRESIDENT

Posted on: February 4, 2019

Mayor Broome Announces SKYWARN Training

Posted on: December 4, 2018

Essay Contest for Local Middle Schoolers

Posted on: September 11, 2018

Mayor Broome Creates Blight Strike Team

Posted on: February 16, 2018

Metro Council Approves 2018 Budget

Posted on: December 12, 2017