Arcadia in Trouble with Louisiana State Auditor

Arcadia Mayor O’Landis Millican wasted taxpayer money more than once and possibly broke state law, according to an audit that Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack published this month.

For starters, Millican signed town checks to pay unbudgeted and unauthorized salary incentives to elected officials and town employees. He did this without a council-approved budget or an ordinance to increase pay for the elected officials and Town Clerk Rockettia Brown.

There’s more.

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“Mayor Millican authorized payments to two vendors from the general fund totaling $1,075,075 for expenses that were not included in the budget documents he provided to us for tree cutting, debris removal, building maintenance, and repairs to Town property from January 1, 2021 through June 10, 2022,” according to Waguespack’s audit.

“In addition, the Town did not have a written contract with either vendor. Since the Town did not provide budgetary statements as required by law for FY 2021 and FY 2022, as described in the first finding, it appears the mayor did not have the authority to incur these expenses and may have violated state law by making such payments.”

Additionally, Millican and members of the town council supposedly met for working meetings on multiple occasions. Town staff could not produce written minutes for these board meetings. Town of Arcadia officials likely broke state law by not properly maintaining meeting minutes, the audit said.

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Arcadia officials also could not provide records to demonstrate a properly-adopted budget for fiscal years (FY) ended December 31, 2021 and 2022. If true, they broke state law.

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Also, two town employees were paid for leave they did not accrue in June of last year.

According to Census Reporter, Arcadia has 2,737 residents, an $18,365 per year capita income, and a $33,490 median household income. Exactly 40 percent of residents aged 18 and under live in poverty. Exactly 23 percent of its senior citizens live in poverty.

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