Kenner council adopts $147.7 million operating budget after heated public hearing on firefighter pay

The Kenner City Council adopted a $147.7 million operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, after a public hearing that focused on firefighter pay, pension and promotional-pay changes and a council amendment shifting $1,050,000 in transfers to council-directed capital projects.

The budget adopted by the council allocates $71.8 million to the general fund, $44.2 million to special revenue funds, $6.5 million for debt service, $9.6 million for capital improvements and $15.4 million for enterprise funds. Mayor Glazer told the council the administration projects a general-fund subsidy to the Kenner Fire Department of $1.6 million for the coming year and highlighted a rise in the city's fund balance from $36.1 million to $45.6 million.

Why it matters

The hearing became a sustained public debate over whether the new pay plan for Kenner firefighters, implemented after a millage and following litigation, fairly compensates long-serving personnel and whether the council should add further increases. The discussion brought residents, active firefighters and the Kenner Firefighter Association to the podium and produced last-minute amendments to both the operating and capital budgets.

What the council approved and how

- The council approved the operating budget (summary ordinance No. 13,797) as amended. The final voice vote was recorded as passing 4', with Council Members Wilmot and Sharwith recorded as opposed.

- During the operating-budget discussion the council added an amendment to increase a transfer to the capital budget by $1,050,000 to be distributed equally among the seven council seats for capital purchases. That amendment was moved and adopted during the meeting; an identical amendment was later added to the capital budget ordinance.

- The capital budget (summary ordinance No. 13,812) was approved after a related amendment that adds the same $1,050,000 transfer; that ordinance passed unanimously in final action recorded in the transcript.

Public comments and firefighter concerns

Several speakers urged the council to adjust pay for firefighters or to explain why some personnel received smaller increases than other city employees.

- Greg Taft, a District 5 resident, said: "We, the citizens, voted for a millage to give them the increase, not the city," arguing firefighters should not be treated differently from other employees.

- Amy Dunn Hotard, a resident who said she had reviewed pay changes, told the council that starting pay had increased but that some long-serving firefighters have lost incremental annual increases they previously received: "You can't take away a yearly increase and call it a raise, give with one hand and take with another."

- Matthew Hotard, a 17-year Kenner fire captain and former association president, described the new pay plan as improving starting pay but warned of "career stagnation" for many captains and chiefs under the current structure.

- Nicholas Alva, president of the Kenner Firefighter Association, told the council the association views the new pay plan as punitive after the union pursued legal action: "This administration isn't following law. They're weaponizing it," he said, urging the council to "protect the will of the people" who approved the millage.

Administration response and legal context

Mayor Glazer and city attorneys repeatedly framed the pay plan as an effort to follow a state statute that governs municipal firefighter pay steps. The mayor said the administration had corrected long-standing problems and that some of the pay adjustments were required by the statute the city had been sued over. City Attorney Dufresne (transcript spelling varies) confirmed to the council that the pay plan "is not illegal" and that the administration was following state law as written.

The mayor also reviewed budget figures and city finances during his remarks, calling attention to the city's improving fund balance and bond outlook. He noted special revenue from the Treasure Chest casino is expected to total about $4.3 million, with set distributions: roughly 24% to the police department and the remainder split among capital, debt service and council allocations.

Council questions, costs and trade-offs

Council members asked staff for the incremental cost of raising the firefighter pay increase from 2% to 3% for the affected years of service. Staff and council estimates in the meeting placed the immediate additional cost at roughly $100,000'$150,000 depending on how outliers and employees with higher-than-plan pay levels were handled. Councilmembers repeatedly warned that any increase committed this year would have to be sustained in future budgets.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance 13,797 (operating budget, FY 2025'26): Approved as amended; voice vote recorded as passing 4'; Council Members Wilmot and Sharwith recorded as opposed. Motion to approve moved by Council Member Wilmot, seconded by Council Member Sharwith (per meeting record). The amendment increasing the transfer to capital by $1,050,000 to be equally distributed to seven council seats was adopted during the meeting (see below).

- Amendment to operating budget (add section transferring $1,050,000 to council capital): Adopted (motion moved by Council Member Lehat/Lehi; seconded by Council Member Brannigan); recorded votes during the meeting show the amendment passed in an earlier roll-call context.

- Ordinance 13,812 (capital budget, FY 2025'26, as amended): Adopted; vote recorded in transcript as unanimous (6'0), after council added the same $1,050,000 transfer to the capital budget.

- Summary ordinance 13,827 (health insurance policy and rates for city employees, FY 2025'26): Ratified; voice vote in the meeting recorded as unanimous (6'0).

- Summary ordinance 13,828 (commercial property insurance): Ratified; voice vote recorded as unanimous (6'0).

- Resolution to abate and demolish the structure at 3704 California Avenue (resolution B17447): Council voted to order demolition within the time allowed by law; motion passed unanimously (6'0) after a code-enforcement presentation and a statement by an heir who said a buyer was contingent on liens being reduced.

What the record shows and next steps

- The meeting record shows both public comment and council deliberations focused on reconciling a statutory pay plan with firefighters' expectations after the millage. The city attorney repeatedly told the council the current pay plan follows the state statute that prompted earlier litigation; the firefighters' association and multiple speakers urged supplemental action by the council to restore some annual increases they said had been lost.

- Several council members called for more education and briefings before making further budgetary changes tied to firefighter pay, including a request for staff to provide clearer, itemized estimates of the cost and which classifications would be affected.

- The council also handled routine items and contracts during the meeting, including health-insurance and commercial-property insurance ratifications, several departmental purchases and emergency repairs reported by public-works and wastewater staff.

- The meeting included notice of ongoing litigation and an executive-session item on personnel/claims. The council's actions on pay and budgets will appear in next fiscal-year planning and may affect future council votes and negotiations with city labor groups.

Ending

After debate and public comment, the council adopted the budgets as amended and advanced a set of public-works and insurance contracts. The record shows the budget vote split the council on the central equity question raised by firefighters: whether to treat long-serving department members differently under the new statutory pay plan or to use council funds to supplement pay. The council asked staff for more specific cost estimates and signaled further oversight and possible follow-up during the fiscal year.