Shreveport mayor, staff to take pay cuts

Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins announced Tuesday that he, senior staff, and department heads will take a 10 percent salary cut for the remainder of the fiscal year, according to a press release from the city. This comes as the City of Shreveport weighs options to manage the economic impact of COVID-19. 

“We are fighting a two-front war. COVID-19 has created both a public health emergency and an economic crisis in Shreveport. We have to ensure that Shreveport citizens are staying safe and abiding by the Governor’s Stay at Home Order, but we also have to grapple with the fiscal ramifications of that order,” said Perkins. “We do not yet know the total fiscal impact, but initial estimates project a $25 million loss in General Fund revenues through the end of April. We also know that we will have to make difficult decisions. We will have to cut deep into the City’s budget, and the first of those cuts will be to my salary.” 

Mayor Perkins and Chief Financial Officer Sherricka Fields Jones met today with Councilwoman LeVette Fuller and Councilman John Nickelson to discuss the fiscal impact of COVID-19. Councilwoman Fuller is Vice-Chair of the Shreveport City Council and Councilman Nickelson is Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. 

Perkins, Jones, and Council leadership had an in-depth discussion about the pressures imposed on the City of Shreveport’s budget by the pandemic and the possible remedies. Budget cuts are forthcoming, but with no indication as to when the pandemic will subside, the breadth of cuts is impossible to forecast. Reductions in non-personnel related expenditures, as well as hiring freezes, furloughs, and workforce reductions are currently under consideration. No decisions have been made at this time.