(The Center Square) – Pay raises for city employees are a sticking point as the Shreveport City Council nears a deadline to finalize next year’s budget.
The council met Friday to review Mayor Tom Arceneaux’s proposed 3% increase for police and firefighters in addition to their annual 2% increase. Salaries for all other city employees would get a 3% bump, effective April 1.
The Shreveport Police Officers Association has requested a 10% annual increase. Officers’ salaries start at just over $41,000 after they finish training, and the department is 158 officers short, according to the association.
Councilman Grayson Boucher said he supports their request “if we can fund it.”
But, he added, “We have 98 employees in the city of Shreveport that make less than $15 an hour. And these are skilled employees … their insurance is probably taking the majority of their pay. I can’t just overlook the rest of the employees.”
Shreveport employs more than 2,500 people, according to the city’s website. The most recent merit increases were given in 2024 and had not been given “for a number of years” prior to that, according to Tom Dark, the city’s chief administrative officer.
“We ended up deciding to do a cost-of-living increase instead, partly because it raises the starting pay,” he told the council. “And that is helpful for a number of things, not just getting us closer to $15 an hour, but it’s also helpful for recruiting.”
The $4.4 million price tag for the pay increases would be paid for with royalties from oil and gas revenues, federal funds left over from the American Rescue Plan Act and shifting some city funds dedicated to other services, including public streets, Dark said.
Dark said it would be safer “keeping some of this money for a rainy day next year.” But he said the administration took the council’s support for citywide raises into consideration.
“Our position is that if there are going to be pay increases for city employees next year, they are going to be for everyone,” Dark said.
Arceneaux said in a statement he knows larger pay raises are preferred, especially among public safety employees, but added “these priorities must be balanced with long-term financial stability and responsible budgeting.”
His budget doubles the uniform allowance for police and firefighters and finances $8.5 million to purchase 60 police patrol vehicles, four new medic units, a tanker truck for the Fire Department and replacement equipment for garbage collection.
The 2026 budget is expected to be adopted at the council’s Dec. 9 meeting, and there might be some public meetings to further discuss the pay raises before then, council members said.
