New Orleans council faces tough choice: Raise taxes, or cut services

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This fall, the New Orleans City Council faces a dilemma: They can either raise property taxes, and weather public blowback.

Or, they can keep the status quo and lose $77 million in vital city programs and services — a move that will also likely cause public pain.

Three weeks into the city's annual budget process, council members are largely keeping mum about which choice they’ll make, even as they vow to preserve funding for several priorities. But it’s increasingly obvious that they’ll need new cash if they hope to keep those services alive.

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A full “millage roll forward,” which occurs when property taxes are raised to the highest amount allowed by voters, could inject about $42 million more into the city’s coffers. But without that increase, the mayor and council will have to close a roughly $100 million deficit by cutting $77 million in city programs and services as proposed by Moreno’s administration. Also helping to bridge that gap are $22 million in one-time funds, plus another $3 million the city will receive from a trust that governs revenue from donated oilfield land.

Even if the millage is rolled forward, the city and council would still have to cut services to the tune of about $32 million, assuming no new other funds are found.

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