BATON ROUGE - The Metro Council approved the 2026 proposed budget at its meeting Tuesday, which will result in cuts across multiple departments after Mayor-President Sid Edwards' Thrive EBR plan failed at the polls last month.

The public defender's office and the constable's office were among the departments fighting against budget cuts, with the constable saying cuts to their office would be antithetical to Edwards' claim that law enforcement faced no cuts.

"The services that we provide are constitutionally required. It's a government obligation; if the government doesn't fund it adequately, there is no way to meet that constitutional obligation," East Baton Rouge Chief Public Defender Kyla Romanach said.

The public defender's office will be cut by over 20 percent. The district attorney's office, coroner, Department of Public Works, and several other agencies will get an 11 percent budget cut next year.

But Metro Council members made some last-minute amendments to help offset some of the funding cuts. More than $500,000 earmarked for their individual districts will be distributed to departments like the district attorney's office and the public defender.

"Certainly it will help, you know, but it's a fraction of what people are having to cut; we understand that, but every little bit helps. So I know the people who are on the receiving end are very appreciative," East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards said.

Edwards says more city-parish layoffs could be on the way as a result of the budget cuts. He says those employees who may be laid off will be notified between now and late January.

"We're still going through department by department, you know, looking at the cuts and the streamlining, and each department'll have to decide how they're going to make those cuts. Where is it? Some may be services," Edwards said.

While some council members, like Rowdy Gaudet, delegated funding across several agencies, with nearly $20,000 each going to the Registrar of Voters, district attorney's office, juvenile court, family court, district court, and coroner's office. Other council members earmarked some of their shared funding to stay specifically in their district.

"Last year, I put $100,000 into drainage maintenance projects for District 11. I did the same thing this year, I put $75,000 into drainage maintenance, $11,000 for the parish attorney, and $30,000 for the juvenile court system," East Baton Rouge Metro Council Member Laurie Adams said.

Mayor Edwards says they will begin work on the 2027 budget in a few months.

"The 2027 budget may not be as kind as this budget was, and that's the reality, you know it's not a scare tactic, it's reality," Edwards said.

Mayor Edwards also mentioned that he is looking to host a job fair at city hall to give city-parish employees an opportunity to find another job.