Council adopts 2025–26 budget after heated debate over grant manager pay

The Natchitoches City Council voted to adopt the fiscal 2025–26 budget after a lengthy debate over whether to keep a grant manager/community outreach position at the prior $55,000 level or increase it to $75,000 to reflect a move from part-time to full-time hours.

Why it matters: The budget funds water-line work, street improvements and public safety projects; the council’s discussion focused on personnel costs tied to expanding grant management and community engagement functions.

Council members voted to take the budget ordinance from the table and then adopted Ordinance No. 9 of 02/2025, the city budget for the fiscal year beginning June 1, 2025. The most contentious issue was a proposed amendment by Councilwoman Betty Smith to retain the grant manager salary at $55,000 instead of $75,000. Finance staff and the director of payroll, Clarissa Smith, explained the $75,000 figure results from converting a 30–32-hour part-time position to a 40-hour full-time position rather than a unilateral pay increase: "The 55,000 is based on 30 working hours... full time is 40 hours per week," Clarissa said.

Supporters of keeping the higher salary pointed to recent grant success and the administrative burden of managing and implementing awards. Dr. Carmela Parker, who has written and managed grants for local entities, said grant writing and grant management are time-consuming functions and provide strong returns: "I've written a grant, and it's a lot of work... we've won 3 grants, in a row." Opponents argued public employees doing similar or greater workloads earn less and wanted clearer job descriptions and public notice before a permanent pay change.

Councilwoman Betty Smith moved an amendment to keep the salary at $55,000; the motion was seconded but later retracted after the city attorney advised that amendments affecting the adopted balanced budget require procedural steps and could leave the city with an unbalanced budget. The council discussed whether such an amendment would require unanimous consent or public notice; the mayor and the city attorney urged caution and recommended returning any personnel-specific matters to a future agenda or executive session if they involved personnel details.

Outcome: The budget ordinance passed on roll call. The separate motion to amend the pay was ultimately retracted and deferred for formal introduction and public notice at a later meeting if the council elects to pursue it. Council members asked finance staff to provide more detail on the job description, hours and responsibilities and to bring any personnel-specific requests back to the council in proper procedural form.

Ending: Council members said they want more transparency on roles and hours for new or reclassified positions and asked staff to prepare clear job descriptions and documentation for any future amendment to personnel-related budget lines.