NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Mitch Landrieu issued the following statement in support of his proposed 2016 Operating and Capital budgets:
“Since coming into office in 2010, I have spoken often of our shared vision for the city of New Orleans– we want nothing less than to create a city for the ages, a city at peace, a city of opportunity, a stronger, more resilient New Orleans.
“We have been committed to reorganizing how government works so that people can get the services they deserve, a city whose government is open and honest. And all of our hard work is having a big impact.
“Our approach has been pretty simple – cut, reorganize, invest and then grow. In just five short years, working closely with City Council, we have successfully turned this city’s fiscal ship around and now our economy and budget are growing.
“At community meetings across our great city this summer, I have learned that the people of New Orleans want real solutions for reducing crime, creating jobs and fixing our streets.
“Based on your feedback, we have identified the priorities for the 2016 City budget— public safety, jobs, streets, opportunities for kids, affordable housing and blight reduction.
“In 2016, we’re increasing NOPD funding by another $10.5 million. We are budgeted to hire another 150 police officers and we will continue our aggressive recruitment campaign. To retain and attract the best and the brightest officers, we are funding 15% pay raises across the board. We’ll also add money to the fire department for new hires and new equipment. And the courts, District Attorney and Public Defender will all see increases.
“We’ll increase NORDC’s funding by $1.3 million, which when combined with funding from the NORD Foundation will nearly triple the $5 million budget we had for our kids in 2010.
“The 2016 budget invests heavily more than $700,000 in our Economic Opportunity Strategy to create pathways to prosperity for our citizens. We have raised the minimum wage for City employees and City contractors to over $10 per hour. New funds will go to enforcing these rules. And our budget also funds $500,000 for a Disparity Study.
“And as we create more jobs, we should be ever mindful to also ensure that people have access to affordable housing. Budget invests another $17.3 million to develop more affordable units, provide housing loans and grants along with rental assistance. And this funding includes matching dollars to support a low barrier shelter to help get our homeless off the streets.
“Last, but certainly not least, we will focus on our crumbling infrastructure. It’s something we have heard loud and clear from residents across New Orleans. Since 2010 we’ve fixed more streets and streetlights than during any five year period in New Orleans history –over 200,000 potholes filled, over 100 miles of streets fixed, over 50,000 streetlights repaired and we’ve gone from 34% of our streetlights being out in 2010 to just about 2% today. In fact, we are doing so much work it sometimes seems like the entire city is under construction, and there is more to come. However, even with these historic investments in streets it is still not enough. So we’re adding more to fill potholes with a goal of 70,000 in 2016 alone. And that is why today I am proposing a bond measure that if approved in April by the voters, won’t raise taxes, but will free up $100 million over the next three years for street repairs.
“We are on the right track. With our continued progress, New Orleans is developing into a city of opportunity, with safe neighborhoods, quality schools for all of our children and good-paying jobs here at home.
“I was elected to turn the city around, get the recovery back on track and get our fiscal house in order.
“This budget continues to deliver on that promise.”
