By Misty Castile | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux is proposing a 6% pay increase for police and firefighters as part of an estimated $6.9 million annual investment in public safety, saying anticipated revenue from economic development projects will allow the city to make the increases without raising taxes or fees.
The funding plan relies in part on future revenue from a planned West Shreveport data center that has not yet been generated.
Arceneaux presented the proposal to the Shreveport City Council on Tuesday, saying the increases are intended to strengthen recruitment and retention and would take effect Dec. 1.
Arceneaux said the city has previously been reluctant to make a significant permanent pay increase without identifying an additional recurring revenue source and ensuring it could maintain its 8% operating reserve.
“Today, because of recent economic development announcements, we have the opportunity to move forward,” Arceneaux said.
Stack Infrastructure and Amazon Web Services have announced they are proceeding with a data center in west Shreveport. Arceneaux also said the city anticipates substantial permit revenue associated with another data center project.
The projects are expected to generate several sources of new revenue, including building permit fees, payments in lieu of sales taxes during construction and potentially increased sales tax collections.
But Arceneaux acknowledged that some of those revenues will be temporary.
“Some of that revenue, including the building permit revenue, the anticipated payments in lieu of taxes during construction, and the other increased sales tax revenue will be temporary,” he said.
The recurring revenue that would support the permanent pay increases has not yet materialized. Arceneaux said the city is counting on future property tax revenue from the West Shreveport data center and electric franchise payments generated by electricity sold to the facility once it is “complete and operational.”
“We have concluded that the proposed increases are sustainable over the long term because of the anticipated property tax and franchise fee revenues without reducing other city services, drawing down our operating reserves, or raising taxes or fees on Shreveport citizens,” Arceneaux said.
Arceneaux said police and fire pay has increased by nearly 44% from 2021 through 2026, excluding the proposed increases. He said pay has increased by more than 19% during his administration, not including additional incentive and recruitment payments.
For police, the proposal would increase the salary of an officer with one year of service from $49,578 to $52,120.
An officer in good standing also would receive a $2,500 retention stipend at the one-year mark, bringing total compensation to $54,620 before educational incentive pay.
With educational incentive pay, Arceneaux said a first-year officer could earn nearly $59,000.
The proposal would increase the incentive for lateral transfers of already-certified officers from $10,000 to $15,000, paid over two years.
Educational incentive pay would increase by $1,800 annually.
Police officers and corporals also would receive $1,200 retention stipends beginning Dec. 1, 2027, and on their respective anniversary dates in subsequent years until they reach the rank of sergeant.
Fire Department civil service employees would receive a 6% pay increase, while educational incentive pay would increase by $1,800 annually.
Incentive pay for EMTs, intermediate EMTs, paramedics and bomb and hazardous materials technicians would increase by $1,200 annually.
The increases would come on top of the regular 2% annual increase received by police and fire personnel.
Arceneaux said the combined police and fire increases represent an annual investment of approximately $6.9 million.
He said police and fire pay has increased by nearly 44% from 2021 through 2026, excluding the proposed increases. During his administration, pay has increased by more than 19%, he said.
Police union questions bonus structure
The Shreveport Police Officers Association welcomed the proposed base-pay increase but criticized the use of bonuses and retention incentives as part of the package.
“We appreciate the 6% base pay raise for fire and police, however, the bonus system for municipal employees has failed for years,” association President Michael E. Carter said in a statement.
Carter said bonuses can be eliminated during budget reductions without lowering an employee’s base salary. He also criticized the administration for previously removing recruitment bonuses after promoting them as a way to bring officers to the Shreveport Police Department.
“While all surrounding agencies, State agencies, and major cities in Louisiana raise police pay…this administration offers bonuses,” Carter said.
Carter also questioned the decision not to include sergeants and higher-ranking officers in the bonus structure, arguing that compensation changes should strengthen the department’s entire career path.
“These are the men and women that served you since the 2000s,” Carter said, referring to higher-ranking officers. “They worked through the recession, survived the leanest budgetary years, then survived COVID-19 while working face to face on the streets of Shreveport.”
Carter said the union believes the structure could contribute to additional departures from the department. He said the department had lost three officers during the week of the council meeting. That claim was not independently established during the council discussion.
Arceneaux said the proposed increases are intended to address recruitment and retention while providing a long-term compensation structure the city can afford.
“Public safety is the first responsibility of city government,” Arceneaux said. “These raises recognize the service and sacrifice of our police officers and firefighters, strengthen our ability to recruit and retain outstanding personnel, and demonstrate that economic development can produce real and lasting benefits for our community.”
The proposed increases will be included in the city’s 2027 budget for City Council consideration.