The Town of Brusly closed out its 2025-2026 budget year with total income adjustments of $314,100 below original projections, driven largely by a $200,000 drop in traffic fine revenue and a $200,000 decline in sales tax collections.

The figures were presented Monday at the town's June 1 committee meeting.

Mayor Scot Rhodes said predicting sales tax revenue is one of the town's most difficult budgeting challenges. Historically, Brusly has run over its sales tax projections, but collections have flattened over the past two years. The town is budgeting flat at $2.1 million for next year.

"It's just a guess," Rhodes said. "We don't have control over that whatsoever."

A $74,400 boost in grant income — including state aid for police and parks — partially offset the revenue shortfall, keeping the total income gap from growing larger.

Traffic Fines and a Full Jail

The $200,000 drop in traffic fine revenue stems from a structural problem: the parish jail has been at capacity, preventing Brusly officers from booking suspects on traffic warrants.

A surge in service calls has also left officers less time for proactive patrol. The two factors combined have gutted a key revenue stream.

Officials said the town has gone from roughly 1,500 unserved warrants three years ago to nearly 10,000 today. "We can't arrest them and they're not going to clear them up," Southon said.

When officers encounter someone with an outstanding traffic warrant, they can only issue another ticket — one the offender has little incentive to pay.

The town is now considering transferring old unpaid ticket debt to the Louisiana Office of Debt Recovery, a state program that can intercept tax refunds and, in some cases, seize bank accounts. The program costs the town nothing and brought in more than $13 million to municipalities statewide last year.

Expenses

On the expense side, the town came in $289,300 under its original budget — a figure one council member called a sign of strong fiscal discipline — leaving a net budget adjustment of $24,800.

Police overtime was a significant expense driver, pushing salaries $40,000 over budget. The town also spent $15,000 more than projected on professional fees, including engineering and IT support costs.

Street and drainage expenses came in $90,000 under budget. Officials said those funds will roll over into drainage work planned for the coming budget year.

The town is also in an ongoing billing dispute with Entergy over street lights. Officials said they received a $5,000 credit but continue to dispute charges for lights they say may not belong to the town.

Sewer Fund

The town's sewer enterprise fund showed a large budget adjustment on paper — $720,057.07 in additional income and $814,919.60 in additional expenses — but officials said most of the movement reflects grant pass-through accounting, not new spending.

The town's auditor directed officials to record Water Sewer Project grant revenue and ARPA funds only when used, then show them as budget adjustments. The bulk of the figures — $753,919.60 on the expense side — represents WSP grant funds distributed and spent on the ongoing water and sewer project.

The net sewer fund adjustment is $94,862.53.

Separately, the town is tracking an outstanding bill from engineer Owen and White for lagoon work completed in April. Officials noted the sewer lagoon project has wrapped up but punch list items remain unresolved. The town said it will not make final payment until all items are complete.

A recent heavy rain event also overloaded the sewer system, resulting in at least one backup reported on St. Mary Street. Officials said they are still researching the cause and may need additional engineering to address it.

Street Overlay

On the public works side, Brusly's 2026 street overlay project is nearing completion following a change order of $7,728.84 after engineers discovered base failures during proof roll testing, which required deeper asphalt in several locations.

The total amount due to the contractor is $186,956.92. The town is withholding 10% until all remaining work is complete. Striping on North Labauve Avenue remains the last outstanding item, pending weather.

The full budget will come before the council for a vote at the regular meeting Monday, June 8, 2026. WBR Independent will have a full budget story following that meeting.