Editor’s note: A review of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s public reports database returned no annual financial report for the Village of Powhatan for fiscal years 2024 or 2025. Readers seeking the most current filing status may verify directly at app.lla.la.gov. The Journal will continue to monitor.
POWHATAN, LA. — The Village of Powhatan’s annual financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, was not completed and submitted to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor until February 2025 — nearly 19 months past the statutory deadline — marking the second consecutive year the Natchitoches Parish village has failed to meet the state’s reporting requirements.
Louisiana Revised Statute 24:513 requires local governments to submit annual financial reports within six months of the close of their fiscal year. For the Village of Powhatan, that deadline for fiscal year 2023 was Dec. 31, 2023.
The compilation report prepared by the Natchitoches firm Thomas, Cunningham, Broadway & Todtenbier, Certified Public Accountants, is dated Feb. 10, 2025 — more than a year after the filing deadline had passed.
The delay is documented in the report’s Schedule of Findings, which flags the late submission as finding 2023-001. The same schedule notes that an identical finding from the prior year, 2022-001, remained unresolved at the time of the 2023 compilation.
“For the year ended June 30, 2023, the Village did not submit the annual audit within six months after the close of their fiscal year,” the findings schedule states. The prior-year finding carries the notation: “Status — This condition was not cleared.”
A review of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s publicly accessible reports database found no annual financial report filed by the Village of Powhatan for fiscal years 2024 or 2025. Under state law, the FY2024 report — covering the year ended June 30, 2024 — would have been due no later than Dec. 31, 2024. No filing appears to have been made.
The Village is governed under the Lawrason Act with a mayor-aldermen form of government. Mayor Jamika Neal received total compensation of $4,021 for the fiscal year, according to the report’s Schedule of Compensation. Three aldermen — Willie Lee Davis Jr., Ezekiel Jewett and Pamela Rivers — each received $1,100 in payments during the year.
Financial condition summary
As of June 30, 2023, the Village of Powhatan presented a financially fragile picture across nearly all of its operating funds.
The village’s General Fund ended the year with a negative unassigned fund balance of $634 — meaning it was technically insolvent on a fund basis, with $1,000 in accounts payable against only $263 in cash. General Fund revenues of $11,170 — drawn from property taxes of $4,236 and franchise fees of $6,934 — fell well short of $33,645 in general government expenditures. The fund required a $17,593 transfer from the village’s utility enterprise fund to partially offset the shortfall.
The village’s Louisiana Community Development Block Grant fund, which accounts for state infrastructure grant money designated for sewer improvements, ended the year in stronger shape with an $18,137 balance. That fund received $45,601 in intergovernmental grant revenue and spent $9,720 on sewer-related expenses before transferring $28,183 to the utility enterprise fund.
The utility enterprise fund — which operates the village’s sewer system — reported an operating loss of $47,509 for the year on $43,871 in sewer charges against $91,380 in total operating expenses. Repairs and maintenance costs of $56,940 drove the majority of the shortfall. Cash in the utility fund fell from $47,278 at the start of the year to $9,363 by June 30, 2023 — a decline of nearly $38,000 in a single year.
Government-wide, the village reported total assets of $296,618, with the vast majority — $266,930 — tied up in the net book value of the sewer system infrastructure. Liquid assets across all funds totaled just $27,763. Total net position stood at $295,243, down from $329,733 the prior year, a reduction of $34,490.
The village’s governmental capital assets — consisting of a building and office furniture and equipment with a historical cost of $76,304 — carried zero net value after accumulated depreciation fully offset their cost.
The financial statements were prepared as a compilation, the lowest level of CPA engagement. Compiled statements carry no audit opinion and no assurance on the accuracy or completeness of the information presented.
Source: Village of Powhatan Annual Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, compiled by Thomas, Cunningham, Broadway & Todtenbier, CPAs, Natchitoches, Louisiana. Louisiana Legislative Auditor: lla.la.gov.
