Calcasieu Parish Revenue Generation and Fiscal Responsibility
- Mary Kaye Eason
- Mar 19
- 2 min read
Providing quality services to Calcasieu Parish residents requires reliable funding, which the parish generates through various taxes and fees, as outlined in Chapter 24 of the Calcasieu Parish Code of Ordinances. While taxation is necessary for public services, parish leaders remain committed to spending your tax dollars efficiently and effectively.
Tax Revenue: The Foundation for Public Services
A mix of property taxes, sales taxes and program income form the foundation of parish funding. These revenue streams support essential services like road maintenance, drainage infrastructure and mosquito control, among others. Generally, it’s our goal to balance necessary taxation with judicious spending.
The 2025 budget estimates nearly $351 million in expected revenues from the aforementioned sources, as well as from outside funds, such as grants and federal dollars related to disaster recovery and other specific needs.
Where does the money go?
As mentioned above, parish revenues support a wide variety of services to improve quality of life in Calcasieu Parish. Complete reports of parish spending are always available for the public’s review, including the results of audits completed by external agencies. You may recall that during my campaign, I said I’d support regular audits of parish finances to ensure the responsible use of your tax dollars. I’m proud to say that the most recent audit found exactly that! (Note: the most recent report details parish finances during 2023. The 2024 report will be available in the summer of 2025.)
Public Works – The largest portion of our spending is also one of the most obvious and impactful. Public works spending includes everything from road maintenance to drainage infrastructure to hazard mitigation.
Health/Welfare – This includes things like the health unit’s services, but it also includes animal services, family programs, and parish-wide initiatives like mosquito control, among others.
Culture/Recreation – If you follow my social media updates, you probably know that assets like the Burton Complex are parish entities! Burton is just one of many culture and recreation services supported by this portion of our budget.
Disaster Recovery – An unfortunate but necessary expense, this includes things like our portion of required cost shares for things like FEMA funding, among other ongoing recovery needs.
For a full breakdown of the 2025 budget, click here.
Questions?
To explore Calcasieu Parish's finances in greater detail, review the Code of Ordinances or the 2023 audit report. Have specific questions about revenue generation or fiscal responsibility? Contact me!
As always, if you have specific questions or topics you’d like to see covered, let me know!
