Implementing City Budget Reform
How we currently prepare and pass our budget is holding many parts of city government back.
Last year, New Orleans witnessed a budgeting process that was a slow-motion train wreck. The budget process unfolded over a period of several months and was characterized by acrimony and dysfunctional conflict between executive and legislative branch officials. This year, an even greater shortfall in city revenues promises more of the same. We must find a better way to conduct this essential function of city government.
Action Item #3: More Open Budgeting, More Fiscal Responsibility. As Mayor I will sign an Executive Order directing the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to begin the municipal budget process earlier in the year by releasing preliminary revenue projections to members of the City Council and to the public. I will direct the CAO to engage all stakeholders, public and private, in an open public dialogue during the third quarter of the year, setting budget priorities and promoting a broad consensus before the critical budget decisions are made in November.
Ongoing Reform: I will prepare and present to the City Council a proposed ordinance that places these budget reforms in the City Code and in the Home Rule Charter, so future administrations will honor the right of all stakeholders, public and private, to participate in budget decisions that are critically related to their quality of life. There will be no doubt about my administration’s willingness to share information with public officials in the coordinate legislative branch of city government and to invite participation by all stakeholders in an open public process for setting budget priorities.
