Prior to the launch of the petition, the organizers of the City of St. George commissioned Carr, Riggs and Ingram LLC, one of the top municipal accounting firms in the South, to evaluate the revenue, expenditures, and budget for the proposed City of St. George and produce a report that detailed the financial viability of the proposed city and the fiscal impact on the General Fund.
The report clearly states that the City of St. George would operate with a surplus and would not have to raise taxes. The report also indicates that the impact to the General Fund would be manageable and not catastrophic, despite comments made by the Mayor’s office.
The City of St. George:
The City of St. George would be financially viable with an estimated General Fund budget surplus in year 1 of $24.5 million (42% of Budgeted General Fund Revenues). First-year revenues are budgeted at $58.4 million, and expenditures are budgeted at $33.9 million, including $4.0 million of discretionary additional police expenditures.
Consolidated Baton Rouge Government:
The incorporation of the City of St. George would result in a manageable General Fund operating deficit of $28.9 million (or 9% of General Fund revenues) to the Consolidated Baton Rouge Government’s General Fund budget. Such amount should not result in an increase in taxes and could be minimized during the incorporation transition period, which is expected to take two to three years, by normal employee attrition and retirement, and/or a reduction in the scope and related costs of vendor/professional contracts that provide services no longer needed or needed at a reduced level.
A copy of the budget and report can be found here: http://bit.ly/2oPiFRw
