A Deficit That Changes by the Day
The budget be lying on its deficit. Whatever you do, don’t ask the budget how big its deficit is. It’ll tell you anything. Its figures are about as reliable as those recall numbers. One day it’s $60 million, the next it’s $100 million. Nobody knows its true depth. Even the City Council can’t figure it out (so they claim).
Council Calls in the Legislative Auditor
Last week, the Council leadership Helena Moreno and JP Morrell threw up their hands and voted to bring in the state’s legislative auditor. Yes, that’s an invitation for the state to come rummage through the city’s books.
Taylor Swift and the Budget Blame Game
Don’t ask the mayor’s team what’s going on either. Two weeks ago they were like, blame Taylor Swift. Apparently the city was banking on Tay-Tay to bring in the bucks, but Tay-Tay didn’t bring in as much revenue as they thought. Does that mean there’s Bad Blood now? Will the city be asking her to give that friendship bracelet back? What about all those homeless people? Will the state apologize for moving them out? Remember when we were told about a projected $200 million impact?
Add-Ons, Reserves, and Budget Chair Praise
The internet can be revealing. For example, what are we to make of headlines like this: Council plans to add tens of millions to the 2025 city budget. It ended up being $69 million in additions. And they dug into the city’s reserves to pay for them. Back then, Council members lined up and heaped all kinds of thanks and praises onto Budget Chair Joe Giarrusso as he doled out district allocations like communion wafers at church. Now they’re like, the mayor’s office isn’t being straight up about the roots of this deficit. How interesting will the legislative auditor find that stance? Will he also find that some of these additions are recurring expenses?
ARPA Cash: Where Did the $388M Go?
What about that COVID money? After COVID the city was sitting fat. The federal government had dumped $388 million in its pocket via the American Rescue Plan Act. The city got that money, then all kinds of newfound priorities popped up. Now there’s a little over $100 million in reserves left. Why not just fill the deficit with that? It doesn’t appear that anybody has any qualms about raiding the reserves. The city charter requires the city to hold 5% of the general fund in reserve.
$1.8B Spent—For What, Exactly?
According to the budget, it takes $1.8 billion to provide city services to about 360,000 people. For that, we get this glorious landscape of potholes, unaffordability, and mismanagement that’s spread out before us. Now, we’re going to get a state auditor to tell us where it’s all gone wrong, financially.
The Myth of “It’s All Fine”
Remember when former CAO Gilbert Montano was at a Council meeting talking about how it was all gravy baby, that this budget thing wasn’t as bad as everybody was thinking it was? And remember when the Department of Finance immediately contradicted him and was like, uh…the financial levees been broke?
Related: Moreno and Morrell Set Dangerous Precedent
City Hall’s Mixed Messages
Remember when the public was told how the Bourbon St. terror attack not only put a strain on the city emotionally, but also put a strain on the NOPD’s operating budget? Don’t worry, nobody remembers that; because it was never said.
Do We Actually Need the Auditor?
Wait, maybe the Council is right. Maybe we do need the state auditor. All of this misinformation and uncertainty among us. It’s hard to know what’s what. Speaking of uncertainty and misinformation, what about all these Instagram influencers injecting themselves into the mayoral race. Hey, Mr. Auditor, while you’re at it, can you tell us whether some of these people are getting paid or not? We’d much appreciate it.