(Citizens for a New Louisiana) — Over the last year, Citizens for a New Louisiana has raised red flags about Carencro’s finances, particularly in the area of festivals, recreation, and the opaque operations surrounding Pelican Park. Local officials brushed off those concerns, insisting nothing was amiss. Now, the newly released 2024 audit tells a very different story. In fact, it confirms what we’ve been saying all along: Carencro’s handling of public funds has repeatedly crossed legal and constitutional lines.

Legislative Auditor’s Findings: A Brief Overview

The City of Carencro’s financial report for the year ending November 30, 2024, recently released by independent auditors, is a bombshell. While most governmental funds received clean opinions, the Culture & Recreation Fund, the Carencro Sports Complex, and the Community Center were so problematic that auditors issued a disclaimer of opinion. Why? Because the City “did not maintain sufficient records.” The City failed to maintain enough records for auditors even to tell whether the financial statements were accurate.

Among the most serious violations was finding number 2024-005 (Donation of Public Funds). Auditors indicated that Carencro loaned money to an unnamed nonprofit without passing an ordinance or executing a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA). The City only signed a CEA in January 2025—after the fiscal year had closed and after the questionable loan had already taken place. Auditors noted this may constitute a violation of Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution, which prohibits the donation of public property. The fact is, the situation is much worse than noted.

About That “Unnamed” Nonprofit

The unnamed nonprofit in question is the C’est (Pas) Bon (Grift) Seasoning Festival. We guess the City didn’t want to take advantage of this free publicity for the upcoming event. What is interesting about this finding, aside from what appears to be a deliberate effort not to name it specifically, is that the same accounting firm that issued this audit finding also told Mayor Clavier in April of 2024 that it was inappropriate to use funds without taking the “minimum steps recommended.” Those steps included: 1) Passing an Ordinance, 2) Drafting a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, 3) Monitoring the Relationship, and 4) Avoiding Conflicts of Interest. On April 8, 2025, Mayor Clavier responded by stating:

“We will discuss tonight at our Council Committee meeting and put the introductory ordinance on the agenda for the next Monday’s council meeting.”

That never occurred! Instead, Clavier made payments of at least $43,197.92 from the City treasury to support an organization she also used taxpayer funds to create illegally.

It Doesn’t Stop There

Additional findings include:

• Finding 2024-006 (Failure to Charge for Use of City Facilities): The City provided use of its recreational facilities to Carencro Area Youth Sports, Inc. for no charge without passing an ordinance or signing a cooperative endeavor agreement. The City’s response: We are working to fix that now. It is clear this is not incompetence, it’s corruption.
• Finding 2024-007 (Failure to Amend Budget): The City did not properly monitor the budget. The City exceeded its expenditure limit by over five percent, triggering a state law requiring a budget amendment. The City’s response: Ooppps! Put some seasoning on it and see if it is easier to swallow.
• Finding 2024-008 (Record Retention Issues): The City failed to maintain records to support transactions for a minimum of three years from the date the record was created. The City’s response: The missing documentation was a result of a “fire that destroyed the majority of the historical records of Pelican Park.” That fire occurred in May of 2023, and multiple sources confirm the blaze was contained to the “concession stand area” on the lower floors. The bar and offices on the upper floor (where the records are stored) only received minor smoke damage. What happened to the records? They probably suffered a similar fate to those criminal records in New Orleans. In that case, at least the city could sift through the local landfill looking for them.

Together, these findings paint a picture of a City government that, at best, failed to follow the rules—and at worst, actively misled the public about where their tax dollars were going.

Prior Warnings for Carencro

Long before the legislative auditor released its findings, Citizens for a New Louisiana was documenting these troubling patterns:

• C’est Bon Seasoning Festival: In multiple articles, we reported that Carencro was diverting taxpayer-funded resources into a private festival without the proper authorizations. City officials withheld festival records, despite having clear legal authority to request them from the nonprofit operator. We asked the City to obtain the documents they’re legally entitled to. They chose not to. Why would they do that?
• Public Funds Without Public Benefit: We warned of issues surrounding Pelican Park and other City facilities, including a lack of oversight or agreements. That’s precisely what the auditors later flagged in their finding on failure to charge for use of City facilities.
• Transparency Denied: When pressed, City officials claimed “we haven’t done anything wrong.” The audit findings prove otherwise. Money was advanced to nonprofits without authorization. Records were missing or withheld. Oversight was nowhere to be found.

This Is a Pattern

The City’s excuse that a fire destroyed financial records doesn’t hold up. Sources adamantly confirm that the fire never touched the third-floor storage area where those documents were kept. At the same time, festival records were withheld from the public even when the City had the authority to compel them. When you connect the dots, the picture becomes clear: rather than confronting the misuse of public funds, City leaders have chosen delay, denial, and distraction.

Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution isn’t optional. Public funds cannot be loaned, pledged, or donated to private groups without a clear public purpose, which must be properly documented through ordinances and cooperative endeavor agreements. Carencro’s own auditors now acknowledge and confirm that those legal requirements were ignored.

The audit confirms what we’ve been saying all along: Carencro’s leadership diverted taxpayer funds, destroyed or withheld records, and violated the Louisiana Constitution. For taxpayers, that means fewer resources for essential services. For us, it means one thing: We told you so… AGAIN!

This is a developing story.