NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Mitch Landrieu presented the city’s 2018 proposed operating and capital budgets to the New Orleans City Council today, Monday, July 31, at City Hall, 1300 Perdido St., at 10:00 a.m.
On Twitter, Mayor Landrieu released the following series of tweets that summarized his presentation:
• Excited to join my team and introduce our final budget to the @NOLACityCouncil
• Together, we are laying a stronger foundation for the future. #2018NolaBudget
• Seven years ago we came into office in the midst of the BP Oil Spill only to find an equally severe financial crisis of our own.
• We had to close a $97M budget deficit that threatened to put our city into bankruptcy.
• Together, we brought sound fiscal Mgmt., balanced budgets & ethical contracting to City Hall, leading to city’s highest-ever credit rating.
• Our budget approach has been pretty simple – 1)cut smart, 2) reorganize, 3) invest and 4)grow. #2018NolaBudget
• In seven years, we have righted the ship of government, going from a budget deficit to a budget surplus. #2018NolaBudget
• Together, we also increased revenue by adding Revenue Staff to go after unpaid tax collection. #2018NolaBudget
• We increased DBE Investments and Performance. We revamped workforce development efforts and we also added the One Stop shop for permitting.
• In summation, we rebuilt a broken city. We established strong ethics and fiscal responsibility. #2018NolaBudget
• 2018 budget largely maintains priorities from 2017. We’re proposing it earlier to ensure smooth transition to next admin. #2018NolaBudget
• In order to make sure we left no stone unturned, we conducted telephone town halls to ensure alignment – engaging over 3000 citizens.
• This year our proposed operating budget is $647 million and our proposed capital budget is $691 million. #2018NolaBudget
• Since 2010, funding for @NOPDNews is up by over $30M per year, which is about a 25% increase. #2018NolaBudget
• Public satisfaction with @NOPDNews is way up: from 33% in 2009 to 64%, which is an all-time high. Morale inside NOPD is up too.
• In 2018, we are proposing a third pay raise for NOPD through a new pay plan that will boost recruitment and retention of officers.
• We’re increasing funding for the Mayor’s Office to support Youth Force NOLA and proposing institutionalizing our workforce training work.
• We revamped @NORDCommission by nearly tripling funding and we’re investing over $150M to rebuild community centers, pools and playgrounds.
• We have fixed 133 miles of streets. Filled 400,884 potholes. That’s more by far than any previous administration in our history.
• We will spend $400M every year for the next five years to continue to fix streets, sewers and drains…
• That’s 8x the normal amount—giving the next Mayor and City Council time to find funding for the rest of the work that needs to be done.
• We're including operational funding to support costs of the newly transferred former VA Hospital complex for our low barrier shelter.
• We will continue our allocation of nearly $20 million in new or rollover funding for affordable housing. #2018NolaBudget
• I want deliver a message to New Orleanians on the need for a strong continued, principled and fiscal leadership from Mayor & City Council…
• There must be fiscal responsibility, predictability and absolutely no corruption.
• We cannot return to the days where businesses feel they need to pay to play.
• We jump-started a stalled recovery & really got cranes in the sky. We also welcomed major philanthropic investments to leverage our work.
• We are America’s best comeback story.
• Let’s continue to move our city forward and continue to improve on the foundation we have built
• I will continue to give you everything I have for the next 280 days so that our next mayor and Council are best positioned.
PHOTO CAPTION: Mayor Mitch Landrieu presents the City’s 2018 proposed operating and capital budgets to the New Orleans City Council today.
