A unanimous City Council adopted Mayor Tim Riley’s 2026-27 General Fund Budget on Monday with 22 pages worth of amendments. All five council members voted to adopt the PACE Center Budget and requisite amendments to last year’s Operating Budget. The process comes to a close before the 2025-26 Fiscal Year ends in five days, avoiding obligatory audit findings and bringing some peace of mind to Gonzales’ rank and file employees.
“We’re pleased that our hardworking employees do not have to think about potential layoffs as we all had to confront last year,” Mayor Riley said. “While we’re not sure how they came up with their numbers, my administration will do its best to make it work as we continue to serve our residents with efficiency and effectiveness.”
Without a General Fund budget in place on June 1, 2025 the city’s impacted departments were reduced to half of their 2024-25 budgets. On August 25, 2025 the council adopted a similarly amended budget before the money ran out on Gonzales Police and Fire Departments, the Administration, Buildings & Grounds, Roads & Drainage and other funds.
This year’s amendment boasts that it will result in significant savings, concluding that the change:
REDUCES THE BUDGETED SALARIES BY: $680,281
Councilwoman Lambert’s department salary totals alongside Mayor Riley’s proposed budget totals.
Adding up every position, the administration came up with the graphic above to demonstrate where the council cuts will land hardest.
REDUCES THE GENERAL FUND AND RECREATION BUDGETS BY: $77,000
Amendment to GENERAL FUND BUDGET:
Reduce Community Development from $100,000 to $50,000;
Reduce Jambalaya Festival Association from $50,000 to $30,000;
Amendment to RECREATION BUDGET:
Reduce Senior Citizens from $12,000 to $5,000
TOTAL REDUCTION OF 2026-2027 BUDGET: $757,281
The amendment does potentially add some dollars…
SELF-INSURED PROPERTY DAMAGE FUND: Add $60,000 to Self-Insured Fund this fiscal year, and add to that Fund each year upon reaching $1,00,000 and replenish yearly as necessary to maintain a minimum of $100,000.
The only public criticism of Riley’s budget leading up to the vote concerned salaries. The purported fix…Councilwoman Terri Lambert presented 12 lists of employment positions, separated by department with corresponding salaries attached. Whether or not the lists are intended to reflect actual employees is unclear because “the numbers don’t correspond to actual salaries being paid.” Also included in the amendment was a list of job titles with corresponding pay ranges and a “Schedule of Pay.”
Page 1 the amendment, which included the highlighted claims above, was read into the record by Councilman Kirk Boudreaux on Monday:
2026-2027 BUDGET CHANGES
ADD PAGES: (Fire Department) 8-A, 8-B, 8-C; (Administration) 9-A; (Police Department) 10-A, 10-B, 10-C, 10-ED; (Planning & Development) 11-A; (Sanitation) 12-A; (Streets & Drainage) 13-A; (General Government) 14-A; (Recreation) 18-A; (Buildings & Grounds) 19-A; (Meter Readers) 29-A; (Utility & Wastewater) 32-A, 32-B; AND 41-A (PACE Center) which itemizes all City of Gonzales Salaries by Department.
Amend to add BUDGET ADDRESS, Page 2:
Under “Personnel Requests”:
“The City has previously adopted a Salary Schedule and Range Schedule for all positions in the City, including those of Police Chief and Mayor and these schedules are hereby readopted. A copy of the current Salary Schedule and Range Schedule is included in this budget, which does not include the anticipated 2.4% cost of living increase for all employees. The Mayor’s pay will remain at Range 26, Step 5, and the Police Chief’s pay will remain at Range 24, Step 14. Those salaries will be 2.4% higher than the included FY 2026 Salary Schedule.”
A summary of Mayor Riley’s proposed General Fund Budget:
Police Department: Total proposed budget is $9,059,000 is up from last year’s $8,424,4000 ($4,300,000 in salaries versus $4,002,000 in 2025-26).
Fire Department: Proposed budget – $5,024,000 up from $4,598,850 ($2,625,000 in salaries versus $2,321,500 last year).
Administration: Proposed budget – $1,150,000 which is a decrease from 2025-26’s $1,362,150 (salaries totaling $630,000, a decrease from last year’s $775,000. Several “administration” personnel are tasked with processing utilities payments justifying a shift in funding source to the Utility Fund which “is operating wonderfully.”)
Planning and Development: Proposed budget – $628,000, down from last year’s $648,000 (salaries remain steady at $270,000).
Sanitation: Proposed budget – $1,479,000, a slight increase from $1,452,000 (salaries – $110,000 up from $106,000. The big-ticket expenditure in Sanitation is the landfill contract, expected to cost $1,275,000 compared to 2025-26’s $1,250,000).
Streets and Drainage: Proposed budget – $1,777,000 up from $1,748,5000 (salaries – $800,000 versus $770,000)
General Government: Proposed budget – $1,866,500, a decrease from $2,131,100 in 2025-26 (salaries increasing to $205,000 from $175,000). General Government includes three “Consulting Fees” totaling $625,000 necessitated by a shift to privatization, All South Engineering replaced the longtime City Engineer last year, Faulk & Winkler contracted to undertake duties of a Finance Director.
Civic Center: Proposed budget – $48,000 down from $88,000 (no salaries).
City Room: Budget zeroed out after demolition in 2025.
Buildings and Grounds: Proposed budget – $936,000 versus $852,350 in 2025-26 (salaries – $425,00, up from $382,000).
Tourism: Proposed budget – $57,000, down from $64,045 (no salaries).
Recreation: Proposed budget – $1,146,000 compared to last year’s $1,105,350 (salaries spiked to $535,000 anticipating additional needs from the 2025-26 number, $316,750). The spike is offset by elimination of two private contracts totaling $170,000 (Athletic Field Maintenance – $75,000; Recreation League Management – $95,000).
Freeland Jackson Center: Proposed budget – $370,500 (salaries – $75,000). There was no Freeland Jackson Center budget item in last year’s budget.
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