BATON ROUGE, La. (LOCAL 33)(FOX 44) – A state audit report released last week lists 18 Louisiana cities as financially inadequate.
Clinton, Louisiana, is one of the cities struggling to sustain under the growing weight of fiscal strain. Bradley Cryer, the Director of Local Government, says some of these cities might not be able to provide for their residents without assistance.
“They’re not able to pay their bills very well, they aren’t paying their vendors. We have a couple that aren’t making payroll in a given week,” Cryer said.
Financially stressed cities won’t be able to maintain basic public utilities like first responders or drainage services. For Clinton, the financial strain is causing problems with their water system, which could create a slippery slope of bad outcomes, with one of the worst being a public health concern.
“They’re working with the department of health trying to come up with long term solutions to either replace or otherwise provide a better source of water for the town,” Cryer said.
