NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Twenty-two Housing Authority of New Orleans employees have been laid off, part of a department overhaul driven by budget cuts.
The New Orleans Advocate’s Jessica Williams reports officials began reassigning terminated employees' cases to staffers spared from the cuts Wednesday, a process that's expected to last about a week. The laid off workers represent more than a fifth of HANO's Section 8 workforce.
HANO Executive Director Gregg Fortner told the agency's board Tuesday that had the program been left untouched, it would have been more than $1 million over budget as far as staffing.
HANO's coffers have been hit hard amid dwindling federal allocations, increased program costs and added costs from construction delays. The board in September pulled $1.9 million from a rainy day fund to keep this year's budget balanced.
