December 1, 2010 – New Orleans, LA - The following statement was made by City Council President and Budget Committee chair Arnie Fielkow preceding the discussions and subsequent vote on the city’s operating budget for 2011.
“I would like to thank the Mayor, CAO, their staffs, my Council colleagues and their staffs, our Council Fiscal staff and my own personal staff, especially Calvin, Barbara, David and Eric, for creating and participating in a budget process that was far more productive than in years past. All worked incredibly hard and literally logged hundreds of hours for the benefit of the public. As the Budget Committee chair, I am very appreciative of everyone’s dedication.
“The budget process started over four months ago with Mayoral meetings in every Council district. Citizen priorities were gathered and ultimately put into the budget document, one the Mayor rightfully calls a moral document. It was true Budgeting for Outcomes, and we have never seen it implemented so effectively before.
“It was tremendously helpful to have the budget delivered two weeks earlier than usual, allowing the Council and their staff time to study the document, gather citizen input and prepare for meaningful discussions with the Administration during the three weeks of budget hearings.
“My responsibility, as the chair of the Budget Committee, is to create a fair process in which Councilmembers and citizens have input in the final document during public budget hearings. These hearings were televised live as well as streamed and archived on the Council’s website for those unable to attend. My further responsibility is to effectively and frequently communicate and liaise with my colleagues and the Administration, and I believe that this was accomplished to the best of my ability.
“I believe the Mayor did an excellent job of creating and presenting a budget which lays a foundation upon which to move the city forward in the year 2011 and for years to come. As is common practice, during the legislative vetting process, there was give and take on both sides. Some items were cut, some added and some financially revised as deemed beneficial to the citizens of New Orleans. However, to a large extent, the Mayor’s proposed budget has received favorable consideration by this Council because of its positive nature and also under the premise that, as a first year mayor, he should be afforded the opportunity to put his agenda and vision in place.
“Priority areas like crime prevention, new blight eradication strategies, fixing of street lights, a better funded street maintenance program, a brand new and better funded recreation system and better customer service at City Hall are all part of the 2011 budget to be passed today.
“It is notable that, in addition to working on next year’s budget, the Administration and City Council had to work over the past six months to overcome a budget deficit of sizable proportions. Through many difficult cuts, financial sacrifices by city employees and better budget monitoring, that past deficit has now been corrected. But moving into 2011, a shortfall of this magnitude cannot happen again. Realistic and conservative budgeting must be the norm and the Revenue Estimating Conference must be used as a valuable vehicle to help guide us. This Conference will meet more frequently and help measure whether the city is meeting its revenue performance goals.
“As in life, one needs to always reassess and make improvements, and the same is true in the city’s budgeting process. While this year was one of the best, we will continue to evaluate and implement best practices of vetting the budget – practices which are as customer friendly as possible for all New Orleans citizens. I welcome recommendations from the public in this area.
“2011 is a very important year for many reasons. One is that it is a quadrennial reassessment year. The hope is that with a single property tax assessor, the property tax burden will be equalized more than ever before. The further hope is that the city, with necessary legislative changes, will aggressively bring back to the tax rolls non-exempt property which no longer has a legal basis for exemption. We cannot continue, as a city, to support a tax system which is not equitable and where only a small percentage of the population bears most of the tax burden. Further, the city must grow its economic pie and resulting sales tax and also aggressively improve its collection of property, sales, hotel and business personal property tax and any other uncollected debts. Substantial dollars have been added to the 2011 budget to allow the Administration to conduct better audits and aggressively pursue these collections. The bottom line is that we cannot afford to leave any present or future dollars on the table.
“In discussing and vetting the Administration’s proposed 2011 budget, all of us on the Council were very cognizant of the financial challenges of our citizens and the economic hurdles they face each and every day. We understand that many people in the city are still struggling financially post-Katrina and as a result of real life events like the oil spill, the national recession and the overall cost of living. It was our job to balance all of this with the desire to support the programming goals and vision of the new Administration. At day’s end, we made significant cuts to the original proposed budget in excess of $4 million. Yet, regrettably many other items not in the original budget needed to be added, many of which involved public safety, an area that remains our city’s and citizen’s number one priority. Funding items like fire fighter pay, the Office of Public Defender, the Tulane Towers GED program, a better recreation system (something I am very appreciative that 74% of New Orleans voters supported in October) and a better run and expanded youth summer employment program – one which the Council will have more say over – will all, hopefully, translate into a safer city for all of us. Other budget enhancements include better funding for City Planning Commission planners – something which will allow projects to proceed at a faster pace and enhance our city’s economic development – additional monies for animal control, senior citizen programming, a long-awaited recycling program and support of our cultural arts.
“Even with these necessary add-ons, the City Council, in the budget being proposed today, has been able to reduce the proposed millage by two mills, a 25% reduction from what was proposed. To accomplish this, sanitation fees have been further increased and other creative revenue sources brought to the table.
“The city’s fiscal challenges will continue in 2011 and for subsequent years, but this budget for 2011 meets the moral nature of what the Administration and Council are trying to achieve. But budgeting does not end today. It is a 12 month process and it will be important for the Budget Committee to receive, on a monthly basis, accurate budget information from the Administration to track the city’s budget through the course of the year. Equally important, other City Council committees will play an important role in holding the Administration to the promises made in this budget document – indeed, that is what budgeting for outcomes is all about. Although no one likes to pay taxes, many New Orleanians rightfully feel that at day’s end they do not get a return on investment for what they pay. By adhering to this budget and insisting on better quality programming from the city, hopefully more bang for the buck will be provided. The budget is a living document that will be revised throughout the year. But we can never again allow the city to go into a deficit as we did in 2010. In other words, we must live within the financial parameters agreed upon today.
“Lastly, some have suggested that the Sewerage and Water Board proposal for a millage increase be considered. This is something that the Council did indeed seriously consider as the S&WB undoubtedly has tremendous present and future infrastructure needs. But, after much discussion, it is the belief of many in and outside city leadership that a full and comprehensive plan must be developed before throwing money at the problem. This plan must be developed immediately as the city’s infrastructure is indeed antiquated and necessitates significant future investment. Hopefully, the master plan developed in this area will cover everything from sewerage, water and drainage infrastructure needs, hopefully with further help from federal recovery monies, but also improved governance, management and enhanced customer service.
“In summary, I would again like to thank the Mayor, the Council, the staff and all of the citizens for their assistance and support in this budgeting effort. The budget process required reflection, but mostly it required that we look forward to next year and beyond. The final budget document outlines our priorities and parameters and it is our road map for achieving the goals of New Orleans. I believe the City of New Orleans future is incredibly bright and I have never been more optimistic about what lies ahead. This is, in large part, a result of the incredible courage, passion and resiliency of New Orleanians. Last winter, New Orleans became a championship city on the field. In the future, I have no doubt that New Orleans is ready to soar and bring that same championship spirit to the fore in taking its rightful place as one of the world’s greatest cities!”
