By Marilyn Miller
“You’ve got a good audit here,” Travis Morehart told members of the Dixie Inn Board of Aldermen at its Feb. 10, 2026 regular meeting. The Shreveport CPA addressed the board concerning the 2024-2025 general fund budget.
“Speaking about ‘inflows’ and ‘outflows,’ when the budget ‘outflows’ increased a couple of years ago, we were panicking. But the General Fund overall is now in good shape.”
In fact, the balance has increased $84,000. Morehart talked about the success of the DI Police Dept., and how the village now has invested income. “We did not have to do all the procedures (in this year’s audit, so the billing will be less,” he pointed out. “We saw no differences in management, no confrontations…I think you know you’ve got a nice set up here – just keep it that way.”
Turning to another subject, a private citizen pointed out that there is a severe drainage problem in the southwest section of the village. Although she and other neighbors are on private property, the issue begins (and could also end) on land owned by the La. State Highway Dept. When there is heavy rain, it looks like a river, the citizen said.
A former village official said that a bigger drain is probably needed.
“That’s what I was told,” the citizen remarked.
“Who’s responsible for the pipe?” alderman Nell Finlay asked. Several people indicated that Dixie Inn is probably responsible, however; “We need an engineer to check it out.”
“Rest assured, we are going to be looking into it,” alderman Judy McKenzie stated.
In police business, Chief Jeff McNeill asked for approval to purchase an eCitation Device and Management System for issuing and keeping records of all citations. Along with other improvements, the system cuts the time spent on the side of the road by officers from 4 to 5 minutes to approximately 45 seconds. “So aside from safety, it gives us a paper trail,” the chief noted. The board unanimously approved the lease of four units at $700 a month.
The chief’s Police Report for January 2026, saw 501 traffic stops, 340 citations, one arrest, one Lemis report, 21 non-Lemis calls, 51 building checks, 25 backups, 51 public assists, 31 calls for service, and no accidents.
The board unanimously approved the surplussing of the police department’s 2018 Tahoe.
In other business, Mayor Donna Hoffoss noted that work has begun on a possible annexation, and that the new work taking place on the highway is the installation of new red lights for Fibrebond Corporation.