Vacant commercial buildings in downtown Shreveport
By Darren Svan | The Center Square
A stretch of commercial buildings in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana are falling into disrepair. Photo: Darren Svan / The Center Square
An internal audit report found that Shreveport’s oversight of property standards complaints is incomplete, and the city lacks billing systems to properly monitor and collect revenue for demolishing unsafe properties and other violations.
City leaders consistently say that fixing blight is a citywide priority and they are focused on removing unsafe residential and commercial structures.
In the last three years, code enforcement has been on the rise: properties cited for violations increased by 13%; structures torn down across the city rose by 35%; and cases referred to environmental court jumped by 58%, according to city data.
As a department, property standards received a 64% increase (or $3.7 million) in the 2026 budget, directed at demolition and enforcement. The city projects increased activity across most categories, like more lot mowing and code violations, according to the budget.
However, findings from the recent audit, which was released in February, brings into question the operational effectiveness of what the city is trying to achieve.
The report reveals that the department does not have documented procedures to ensure complaints are consistently recorded, tracked and resolved.
Complaints are submitted through the platform Port City 311 but they are underreported due to inconsistent data entry and no integration between Port City 311 and the MyGovernmentOnline system, which is the system used to record inspections and enforcement activity, the report said.
From January 2023 to July 2025, citizens initiated 4,617 complaints, with volumes increasing each year to a high of 239 per month last year; however, the total is incomplete due to missing entries.
The report recommends adding standardized procedures and staff training for complaint management – to ensure all phone complaints are entered into the system – and consulting IT to determine whether Port City 311 and the MGO system can be integrated.
The report says the city spent $991,315 in 2023 to tear down 194 abandoned or dilapidated structures; $1.1 million for 229 properties in 2024 and about $1.2 million for 255 properties in 2025.
For each of the three years reviewed, Council District A — represented by Tabatha Taylor — recorded the highest number of demolitions among all council districts. Taylor’s district includes several older, historic neighborhoods.
City law makes property owners legally responsible for the cost of tearing down abandoned buildings. However, the city collected only 3.8% of what was owed in 2023 and 6.6% in 2024 – or about $127,276 of the $2.4 million owed for both years.
“There are no established processes or controls in place to monitor or reconcile the collection of funds. The city does not use a collection agency, and we noted no follow-up efforts after liens are recorded,” the report said.
What’s more, the report says that for adjudicated properties, care of premises and weed abatement violations are “not billed because owners are not notified.”
Payments to contractors are not tracked by adjudicated versus non-adjudicated, so the report could not determine the exact cost attributable to adjudicated cases. The report did indicate, though, that weed abatement and care of premises totaled approximately $1.5 million for 2023 and 2024.
So some percentage of the $1.5 million was never billed, according to the report.
“The absence of post-lien collection efforts reduce recoveries, increase the risk that debts age beyond practical collectability and shift costs from owners to taxpayers,” the report said.
It suggests adding automated reminders to ensure liens are filed timely, partnering with a collection agency and enforcing city code or updating the ordinance to reflect the current practices related to adjudicated care of premises and weed abatement cases.
The Center Square reached out to Property Standards Director Terrence Green and did not receive a response.