Could Lafourche Parish's budget take effect automatically after hearings lacked proper notice?

Plain-English summary

Lafourche Parish had been operating under its last approved budget from 2000. Its officials disputed whether the proposed 2003 maintenance and operation budget became effective under a home-rule charter clause that treated the president's proposal as adopted when the council failed to act. In Opinion 03-0044, the Louisiana Attorney General concluded the proposed budget had not been adopted or finalized. State budget law required a meaningful public opportunity to participate before adoption, including a properly noticed hearing.

The council held two purported hearings. According to the facts supplied to the AG, the first had no published notice; the second was advertised only five days before it occurred, where state law required at least ten days. The AG treated the Local Government Budget Act's notice and hearing rules as minimum requirements even for a home-rule parish. The charter's automatic-adoption provision could not make a budget effective without those state-law steps.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Parish councils and presidents

The opinion held that Lafourche's proposed 2003 budget remained unadopted despite the charter's default-adoption language. The AG treated the state hearing and notice requirements as a floor that the home-rule charter could not lower.

Parish residents

For political subdivisions with the expenditure level described in the opinion, the AG read the Act as preserving a public chance to participate before a budget was adopted. The inadequately advertised Lafourche meetings did not supply that chance.

Common questions

Q: Did the council's tie vote make the proposed budget effective? A: No. The AG concluded the budget was not finalized because neither hearing met the state notice requirement; the second was advertised only five days in advance.

Q: Could the home-rule charter adopt the president's budget automatically? A: The AG said the charter's automatic-adoption mechanism could not overcome the Local Government Budget Act's minimum notice and hearing requirements.

Q: How much notice did the cited state law require for the first budget hearing? A: The 2003 opinion quoted a requirement to publish the hearing notice at least ten days before the first public hearing. That historical rule should be checked against current law.

Background and statutory framework

The district attorney described submission of the proposed budget, a November meeting that had no notice, and a December meeting advertised five days in advance. The opinion quoted LSA-R.S. 39:1307(A) on public participation, subsection (B) on published notice at least ten days before the first hearing, and subsection (C) on holding a hearing before a proposed budget could be considered for adoption or finalized. It identified the provision as applicable to political subdivisions with total expenditures of $250,000 or more from the specified funds.

Citations and references

Authority in the opinion: LSA-R.S. 39:1307(A), (B), and (C). The AG also referenced Attorney General's Opinions No. 01-279 and 02-0258 concerning home-rule charters and state-law minimums.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0044

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

February 4, 2003
Opinion Number 03-0044

84 - PARISHES
LSA-R.S. 39:1301, et seq.

Mr. Camille A. "Cam" Morvant, II
Proposed Lafourche Parish Maintenance and Operation Budget for
District Attorney, Parish of Lafourche the year 2003 has not been adopted or otherwise finalized, for the reason that the budget of a political subdivision such as Lafourche,
406 West Third Street
with total proposed expenditures of $250,000 or more, cannot be
P. O. Box 431
considered as adopted or otherwise finalized in the absence of a
meaningful opportunity for public participation in the budgetary
Thibodeaux, Louisiana 70301
process, and particularly in the absence of a timely and propedy
noticed public headng, all in accordance with LSA-R.S. 39:1307.

Dear Mr. Morvant:

Reference is made to your recent request for an opinion of this office on behalf of the Lafourche Parish Council. At the request of the Council, you seek our advice regarding "...the enactment status, or lack thereof, of the Parish’s Maintenance and Operation Budget for the year 2003." Your request is of particular importance to the Parish, as Lafourche has been operating on its last approved budget, that being the year 2000 budget, for quite some time.

Specifically, you request our opinion as to whether the provisions of the Louisiana Local Government Budget Act, namely 39:1307(C), supercede the provisions of the Lafourche Parish’s Home Rule Charter provisions which provide that the budget shall be adopted as submitted by the President if the governing authority fails to act. We note the following pertinent information, set forth in your request:

"On or about October 16, 2002, President Breaux submitted, via certified mail, the 2003 Maintenance and Operations Budget along with a budget message to the members of the Parish governing authority. On November 12, 2002, the budget ordinance for the 2003 budget was introduced at the governing authority’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The entire budget was published in the official journal on November 22, 2002. The governing authority held, but failed to advertise, a Special Meeting on November 21, 2002. The first item on the agenda for this Special Meeting was a Public Hearing on the 2003 Budget. A vote was taken at this meeting whereby the governing authority voted 5-2 against adoption of the budget. Another Special Meeting was held on December 1, 2002. The first item on the agenda for this meeting was a Public Hearing on the 2003 Budget. The notice for this meeting was published in the official journal on November 26, 2002. A vote on the enactment of the budget was taken at this meeting and ended in a 4-4 tie. Also at this meeting, Chairman Darryl Marlborough issued his rejection message." (Emphasis added).

Page 2

Opinion Number 03.0044
Mr. Camille A. "Cam" Morvant, II
District Attorney, Parish of Lafourche
Page -2-

You advised this office that on December 30, 2002 the Parish Attorney of Lafourche Parish issued an opinion that the budget should be deemed automatically adopted, as submitted by the Parish President, due to inaction by the Parish governing authority, in accordance with Lafourche Parish’s Home Rule Charter Art. V(A)(3). According to your letter, the Parish Attorney reasoned that even though the Parish governing authority voted against passage of the budget in one instance and failed to pass the ordinance in another instance, because the governing authority failed to properly advertise the meetings at which the votes were held, the votes were null. You further advised that Lafourche Parish’s Home Rule Charter provides that if the Parish’s fails to hold a public hearing within 15 days of the Chairman’s budget rejection message [Home Rule Charter Art. V(A)(3)], and/or fails to comply with Home Rule Charter Art. V(A)(4), which mandates the holding of a public hearing and adoption of the budget "not less than 30 days" before commencement of the next fiscal year, the budget "...shall be adopted as submitted by the President. HRC Art. V(A)(3)".

In our opinion, however, it is the Louisiana Local Government Budget Act, LSA-R.S. 39:1301, et seq., not the Home Rule Charter of Lafourche Parish, which is controlling of the issue you have presented. Pertinently, LSA-R.S. 39:1307 provides:

"A. Political subdivisions with total expenditures of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more from the general fund and any special funds shaft afford the public an opportunity to participate in the budgetary process prior to adoption of the budget.

B. Upon completion of the proposed budget and, if applicable, its submission to the governing authority, the political subdivision shall cause to be published a notice stating that the proposed budget is available for public inspection. The notice shall also state that a public hearing on the proposed budget shall be held with the date, time, and place of the hearing specified in the notice. The notice shall be published at least ten days prior to the date of the first public hearing. Where applicable, publication shall be in the official journal of the political subdivision...

C. No proposed budget shall be considered for adoption or otherwise finalized until at least one public hearing has been conducted on the proposal..." (Emphasis added).

LSA-R.S. 39:1307(A) mandates public opportunity to participate in the budgetary process. LSA-R.S. 39:1307(B) requires notice of a public hearing on a proposed budget to be advertised "at least ten days prior to the first public hearing". LSA-R.S. 39:1307(C) provides that "[n]o proposed budget shall be considered for adoption or otherwise finalized until at least one public hearing has been conducted on the proposal."

Page 3

Opinion Number 03-0044
Mr. Camille A. "Cam" Morvant, II
District Attorney, Parish of Lafourche
Page -3-

Based upon your advice, neither public hearing held by the governing authority of Lafourche Parish was properly advertised: the first hearing was not advertised at all, and the second hearing, although advertised, was only advertised five (5) days prior to the meeting at which it was held.

This office has previously advised the Lafourche Parish Council that the Louisiana Local Government Budget Act applies to political subdivisions operating under a home rule charter as a minimum standard. Attorney General’s Opinion No. 01-279. We further advised the Lafourche Parish President that although a home rule charter may contain more stringent requirements than the Louisiana Constitution or general state law, it may not conflict with or supercede the state’s constitution or laws. Attorney General’s Opinion No. 02-0258. It is also the opinion of this office that if a local governmental subdivision fails to meet the minimal notice, advertisement and hearing requirements set forth in the Local Government Budget Act, its proposed budget cannot be considered as having been adopted, even if provisions of the Parish’s home rule charter declare the budget adopted upon inaction of the governing authority.

In accordance with the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that the proposed Lafourche Parish Maintenance and Operation Budget for the year 2003 has not been adopted or otherwise finalized, for the reason that the budget of a political subdivision such as Lafourche, with total proposed expenditures of $250,000 or more, cannot be considered as adopted or otherwise finalized in the absence of a meaningful opportunity for public participation in the budgetary process, and particularly in the absence of a timely and properly noticed public hearing, all in accordance with LSA-R.S. 39:1307.

We trust the foregoing to be of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance in other areas of the law.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

E BARHAM

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