Statement from Mayor President Broome on Metro Council Approval of 2025 City Parish Budget

Baton Rouge, LA - December 10, 2024 - Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome thanked the Metropolitan Council for this evening approving the proposed 2025 City-Parish budget, more than half of which will go to fund public safety, including police and fire departments. In managing the $1.1 billion 2025 City-Parish budget, the Mayor-President's Office has discretion over budgeting only one-third of that, or $347 million.

"I am proud that we are funding two new police academies of 17 recruits each, one new fire academy of 30 recruits and adding 11 new positions to EMS next year," said Mayor Broome. "This continues my dedicated focus on reducing crime and supporting families in our city, having given three pay raises to Baton Rouge Police over the past three years, for a total 13% pay raise. Even with the nearly $40 million financial impact we face as the City of St. George begins to operate, this budget still invests heavily in first responders and in our City-Parish employees - with no proposed layoffs of City-Parish employees, maintaining 3% merit raises for our eligible employees, and no interruption of basic governmental services anticipated."

Noted economists Dr. Loren Scott and Dr. Jim Richardson praised the Mayor's 2025 budget as encouraging and establishing prudence, following the City-Parish receiving its highest bond rating (a AA+ rating) with the three major national ratings agencies earlier this year. The 2025 budget continues years of work in which the Broome administration invested $55 million into drainage and stormwater planning improvements, clearing more than 500,000 linear feet of drainage pipes, digging more than 192,000 feet of drainage ditches and clearing more than 35,000 tons of debris from the EBR stormwater system and channels. MovEBR, the largest transportation improvement project in EBR history, will see another $60 million in investments (representing more than 100 active projects, with 28 projects already complete) in this 2025 budget approved by Metro Council members this evening.