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Livingston Parish finance committee reviews monthly revenues, budget plans and ARPA allocation to animal shelter
Summary
At a finance committee meeting, parish finance staff reported $2,242,739 in recent collections, outlined budgets for multiple dedicated funds and reiterated that $1.9 million in ARPA funding is earmarked for a new animal shelter. Committee members discussed budget timing and audit work ahead of the annual budget process.
Livingston Parish finance staff told the parish Finance Committee that the most recent remittance totaled $2,242,739 and outlined how that revenue and other fund transfers support operations, a new animal shelter and the coroner's office.
The report said $677,011 of the remittance went to the parish jail and $2,031,030 to the road fund. Finance staff also reported an $80,000 private donation to Lowstep that was used to purchase two vehicles; those donor funds did not come from parish operating funds. The presentation described a modest recent uptick in sales-tax collections and noted that a large event earlier in the year could affect future monthly remittances.
The presenter said the animal-shelter project is budgeted in the animal-control fund at $4,049,500, including $3,400,000 for the new shelter. Of that $3.4 million, the presenter said $1.5 million is budgeted as a transfer from the general fund and $1.9 million was allocated from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. On ARPA the presenter said, “ARPA funds was funds that we received from the government for, coronavirus, and they had to be dedicated at 12/31/24.”
Committee members also reviewed the coroner's fund and PEG (public, educational and government access) fund. The coroner fund was shown with budgeted revenues and an additional transfer from the general fund to cover operations; the presentation listed the coroner's 2025 budgeted expenses at $1,094,043. The PEG fund was budgeted with $70,000 in cable franchise receipts plus a $100,000 transfer from the general fund and budgeted 2025 expenses of $189,921.
Finance staff described the budget worksheets and timeline the committee will use this summer. The auditor is working on the parish audit and staff said the audit should be finished by June 30; following that, the committee will use month-to-month actuals to build the 2026 budget. Staff characterized the budget as a live document that will be updated monthly so final numbers are as close to actuals as possible.
No formal motions about the financials were taken during the presentation. Committee members asked procedural questions about how transfers and one-time federal funding are shown in the budget and requested invoice detail for outside contractors to review charges.
The committee moved on after asking staff to provide supporting detail and to bring follow-up information on ARPA uses and the opioid-abatement fund at a later meeting.
