Auditors give Broussard a clean opinion; utility funds improve while general fund reserves shrink

The City of Broussard received an unmodified (clean) audit opinion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the city's auditors said, while the review flagged improved utility performance alongside a decline in general-fund reserves.

Brad Calder of auditing firm Calder Slaven told the city council the auditors issued "an unmodified opinion on the financial statements," and walked officials through utility, park and general-fund results.

The auditors emphasized several material developments. The utility fund recorded substantial revenue gains across garbage, sewer and water driven by customer growth and CPI-tied rate adjustments; combined water and sewer revenues rose by about $1.25 million year over year. Water alone produced an operating profit of roughly $136,000 in 2025, which Brad Calder described as "the first time" the city has seen an operating profit in its water department. Sewer revenues increased but the sewer fund still showed a modest operating loss after adjustments for depreciation.

Per-customer metrics also improved: water customers increased by approximately 900 from 2022 to 2025 (to about 6,700 customers), and the auditors reported a positive cash-per-customer result for water of about $7.80 for the year after adding back depreciation.

The park fund showed relatively flat operating revenue but grew non-operating expenses in 2025 because of bond issuance costs and interest, producing a larger loss before transfers than in the prior year. The city issued about $7.5 million in general-obligation bonds for the park (and related projects) and recorded roughly $792,000 in bond premium proceeds.

On the broader balance sheet, auditors noted that cash and investments rose year over year but that roughly $9 million of the investment balance is restricted for capital projects and bond proceeds. After accounting for restricted amounts, the auditors said the city had approximately $15 million in available cash and an aggregate available balance equivalent to about 188 days (6.3 months) of operating expenditures across all funds.

However, auditors sounded a caution on the general fund. Burton (identified in the presentation as one of the auditors) said the general fund's unassigned balance declined markedly over the period: from about 323 days (10.8 months) two years prior to roughly 59 days (1.9 months) in the current year. "You should have at least 2 months," Burton told the council, and he noted the council could consider transfers from sales-tax-dedicated funds to bolster the general fund if needed.

Burton also reconciled the city's headline surplus by removing one-time items (grants, bond proceeds and capital outlay) and concluded that on a true operational basis the city produced an adjusted surplus of about $4.5 million for the year and that five-year operating averages remain positive (~$5 million annually).

The auditors highlighted the drivers for the figures: capital purchases (new City Hall and public-service/public-safety facilities) used some available cash, debt increased by about $15 million due to bond issuances for park and streets projects, and capital outlay spending was actually lower than budgeted by roughly $2.8 million. They recommended the council "digest" the recent wave of capital projects as reserves rebuild.

No formal council action or vote resulted from the presentation; the auditors closed by offering to answer follow-ups and the mayor thanked them for their work.

Sources: Presentation by Calder Slaven auditors during the City of Broussard council meeting.