Lafayette Consolidated Government’s budget will face a $49 million cut from the current year, approximately 8 percent. The Advertiser reports today on a budget preview given to the council yesterday, in which Chief Financial Officer Becky Lalumia underscored the recent downturn in sales tax revenues. Lalumia says the city is projecting a 2.6 percent decrease in city sales tax collections this year. The cuts will be distributed across every department, without any layoffs.
Overall parish sales tax collections are on a five-month skid so far this year. The down streak is the longest since at least 1999, when the Sales Tax Department began electronically tracking monthly reports.