FACT SHEET: 2026 CITY-PARISH PROPOSED BUDGET

BATON ROUGE - Wednesday, November 5, 2025 - By law, the Mayor-President is required to submit a budget on this date to the Metro Council. In accordance with that legal requirement, Mayor-President Sid Edwards presented his administration's balanced budget for the 2026 calendar year. The Metro Council is expected to vote on the proposed budget on December 10, 2025. The following are highlights of that proposal:

Principles and Priorities

• We are committed to balanced budgets - cutting operational expenses to align with revenues.
• We continue to focus on public safety, infrastructure, blight/neighborhood revitalization, youth development, and homelessness.
• Through federal and state funding opportunities, innovation, technology, and community partnerships, we are streamlining City-Parish operations and delivering services more efficiently and effectively.
• Today's budget proposal is based on revenue estimates that were reviewed by Economists Dr. Loren Scott and Dr. Jim Richardson, who praised our Administration for "encouraging and establishing such prudence in creating the City-Parish budget for 2026."
• In addition, our Double A Two bond rating has been affirmed for the way we are managing our $1.1 billion budget.
• We are not using reserves (one-time monies) for operational expenses. Best practices call for maintaining at least two months of operating costs as a reserve fund, and we remain committed to building back the reserves.

Historical context

• Prior to my Administration and over the past two years, EBR has lost $50 million in revenue. These revenue losses have put a real strain on EBR's budget, and reductions must be made.

Key Points about the 2026 Budget Proposal

• Because of those revenue losses, we had to reduce the General Fund budget in 2026 by about $15 million or 4.46%.
• Personnel costs make up the largest share of the General Fund operating budget, and difficult decisions had to be made affecting approximately 420 positions:
  - Approximately 200 positions will be reduced through a combination of layoffs, early retirement, and not filling vacant positions.
  - An additional 220 positions are proposed to be deleted.
• The total proposed General Fund workforce reduction is 33%, excluding Police and Fire.
• Public safety remains a top priority, and no budget reductions are proposed for public safety departments to ensure protection of residents and stability in essential emergency services.
• Funding remains for 2026 training academies to meet manpower needs of police and fire departments.
• The budgets of most other departments are reduced by 11%.
• The budget includes $3.5 million for stormwater compliance.
• Support for outside agencies, such as the Public Defender, Arts Council, Food Bank, and Live After Five, continues through interest earnings from the American Rescue Plan, but several of those agencies will sustain reductions because of lower revenues and will likely need to secure new funding sources in 2027 to maintain their operations.

Possible mitigation

• Today's budget proposal does not include funding from the Thrive EBR initiative, which is on the Nov. 15 ballot as Propositions 1, 2 and 3.

Passage of Propositions 1, 2, and 3 would mitigate some of the General Fund and outside agencies' reductions