Harahan council moves ARPA cash to streets, police vehicles and senior-center costs as it amends 2024 and adopts 2025 budget

Harahan — The City Council approved a series of budget amendments and ARPA transfers on Dec. 19 designed to secure state road-repair grants, buy police vehicles and shift certain capital costs off the general fund.

Council members voted to add two state-requested cooperative-en-deavor resolutions to the agenda and approved them unanimously. The resolutions authorize the mayor to accept state funding for emergency road repairs on Monroe Street/Reesor Avenue and on Okay Avenue/Elper Street. Finance Director Todd Turnioin told the council the state has approved a large portion of project worksheets and about $1,000,000 in approved PWs remained unpaid but moving through processing.

The meeting’s major fiscal action was a package of ARPA amendments. Councilman Asbell proposed, and the council approved, a spending package that included $200,000 for police vehicles, $130,000 for a crane/maintenance truck, $20,000 for Axon holster sensors that auto-trigger body-cam recording, and $50,000 for ADA-accessible entrances at a playground. The package was sized to meet the federal ARPA obligation deadline and to convert previously allocated capital expenses into ARPA where allowed.

“We do continue to have monthly meetings with the FEMA team,” Finance Director Todd Turnioin said in a presentation opening the meeting’s financial discussion. “A large number of the project worksheets have been completed… the expectation is that those amounts should be coming shortly.” Turnioin also confirmed the city made a $250,000 principal payment on a loan this week.

Council members repeatedly discussed the timing and technical definition of an “obligation” under ARPA rules — what constitutes a binding commitment (contracts or purchase orders) versus estimates or engineering agreements — because projects such as the Wilson Street reconstruction include engineering fees that can count toward a local match. Staff said some engineering fees have been contracted and that the engineering contract for Wilson Street was approximately $449,000, which helps meet the local match required by the state grant for the larger project.

To cover a shortfall identified during ARPA reconciliation, the council also voted to repeal two previously authorized ordinances that had not been fulfilled, freeing about $78,000 to cover immediate obligations. In short sessions and a brief recess to reconcile numbers, members moved multiple transfers between the ARPA, capital and general funds to keep projects obligated before Dec. 31.

Budget votes and next steps

Council debated whether to “ratify” a projected 2024 operating deficit or to approve only the specific amendments acted on that night. After discussion, council adopted the capital- and ARPA-related amendments to the 2024 budget; the roll was noted in the record with one councilmember recorded as dissenting on one motion related to a line-item change.

On the 2025 budget, staff delivered a revised spreadsheet (referred to as column O) that shifted several revenue and transfer assumptions — including an ARPA interest transfer and the state police supplemental pay as a revenue/expense wash — and produced a modest surplus. Using column O as the starting point, the council approved the 2025 budget as amended, including the police and recreation adjustments approved during the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution 2024-16 (Monroe/Reesor emergency road repair): approved by voice vote, 5–0. - Resolution 2024-17 (Okay/Elper emergency road repair): approved by voice vote, 5–0. - Ordinance 2024-22 (ARPA: Park of Heroes match, $50,000): approved, 5–0. - Ordinance 2024-23 (ADA bathroom at recreation center, funding changed from capital to ARPA): amended and approved, 5–0. - ARPA spending package (police vehicles, crane truck, holster sensors, ADA entrances): council approved the amendment package to obligate ARPA funds and directed staff to confirm contractual obligations before year end; voice vote recorded in favor. - 2024 budget amendments (capital/ARPA changes adopted as amended): adopted after debate; one member recorded a nay on a specific motion. - 2025 budget: adopted as amended using the staff-revised column O as the working starting point.

Why it matters

Council members said the moves protect expected state and federal reimbursements, limit the city’s out-of-pocket exposure on major street projects and apply one-time ARPA resources to capital needs the city must obligate by the federal deadline. Council also acknowledged the trades-offs: pulling down reserves and fund balances this year will require attention when planning the 2026 budget and future millage or revenue actions.

What’s next

Staff were directed to finalize contracts and purchase orders where possible before the Dec. 31 ARPA obligation deadline, provide an itemized bill for the senior-center work requested by council, and produce a short list of capital-match needs for council review before the next meeting.