(The Center Square) – Shreveport's audited financial report says the city's General Fund came in $10 million under its revenue budget and $22 million over on spending.
Finance Director Sheila Faour says the reverse is true.
Shreveport's General Fund spent about $20.7 million more than it collected during the first half of 2026, but city finance officials say the gap is largely tied to the timing of expenses and revenue collections and expect revenues to exceed expenses by year-end.
The figures appear in Shreveport's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report released Wednesday of last week. The report, dated July 22, covers the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2025, but its management discussion includes an update on the first half of 2026 under a section examining the city's next-year budget and economic conditions.
It was published by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
General Fund expenditures totaled approximately $122.8 million during the first six months of 2026, compared with $102.1 million in revenue. The difference is equivalent to about $118 for each of Shreveport's estimated 175,902 residents, although it does not represent a direct charge to residents. The population figure is the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate.
“This shortfall means the continued use of operating reserves will again be necessary to sustain operations,” the Finance Department said in the report.
Faour told The Center Square the city expects to end 2026 with $311.1 million in revenue and $305.4 million in expenses, leaving revenues about $5.7 million above expenses.
“Expenses are encumbered early in the year and drawn down throughout the year,” Faour said. “The collection of property taxes late in the year also play a part. However, we expect revenues to exceed expenses by 2026 year-end.”
The General Fund entered 2026 after its total fund balance declined by about $7.1 million in 2025, falling from $29.7 million to $22.6 million. About $20 million of the year-end balance was classified as unassigned and available for general purposes.
That unassigned balance represented 7.7% of General Fund expenditures, according to the report.
Shreveport's adopted 2026 budget calls for maintaining a General Fund operating reserve of at least 8%. The city budgeted $23.4 million for the reserve this year.
Faour said the city was below its reserve target at the end of 2025 but is currently above 8%.
She said the city's roughly $331 million overall 2026 budget includes $48.4 million in reserves, including $25 million temporarily held in a Rate Stabilization account for water and sewer. Excluding those reserve accounts leaves about $282.6 million in projected spending. The $23.4 million General Fund reserve represents about 8.28% of that amount, Faour said.
The budgeted reserve has not been changed during the year, according to Faour. The city projects a General Fund balance of approximately $25.7 million at Dec. 31.
The newly released report also contains incorrect descriptions of Shreveport's 2025 General Fund budget performance, Faour said.
Management's discussion and analysis says General Fund revenues, excluding transfers, finished $10 million below the final budget while expenditures, excluding transfers, were $22 million above budget.
Faour said the language should instead state that actual General Fund revenues, excluding transfers, were $18.27 million over the final budget and expenditures, excluding transfers, were $18.56 million under the final budget.
The report's separate budget-to-actual schedule shows $272.5 million in General Fund revenue against a final budget of $257.6 million, about $14.9 million above budget. It shows expenditures of $256.6 million compared with a final budget of $278.5 million, about $21.9 million below budget.
Faour said the difference between the corrected figures in the management discussion and the budget-to-actual schedule is $3.36 million in state supplemental pay, which is reconciled separately in the report.
Sales taxes remain Shreveport's largest source of governmental revenue. The city reported approximately $167.9 million in sales tax revenue out of $343.2 million in total governmental activities revenue in 2025, or about 48.9%.
Faour also confirmed an error in the report's discussion of the city's general obligation borrowing capacity. The management discussion says approximately $405 million in additional general obligation debt was available for issuance.
Faour said the figure should be approximately $633 million, matching the detailed debt note in the report.