TL;DR
New Orleans faces a gap of roughly $100 million next year. The Moreno 2027 budget closes it mostly with cuts. It eliminates 152 city jobs and cuts the Health Department, Public Works, the Fire Department and the city’s job-training programs. It spares NORD and the Council on Aging and ends furloughs. The city is also weighing a property tax increase called a millage roll-forward, which the council can pass without a vote of the people. My view: before any homeowner pays more, the city should raise short-term rental fees and get tax-exempt institutions like Tulane to contribute.
Key Points
- Why cuts: The one-time money that balanced 2026 is gone, leaving a gap of about $100 million.
- Biggest cuts: Health (-$9.9 million), Public Works (-$9.8 million), Fire (-$8.5 million) and 152 jobs.
- Eliminated: the entire $500,000 Workforce Development budget. Community Development is cut 90 percent.
- Shelter risk: Closing the low-barrier shelter would put about 200 people outside just as a new state law makes sleeping outside a crime.
- Protected: NORD, the Council on Aging and city worker pay. Furloughs end.
- Not in the budget yet: a property tax increase through a millage roll-forward, higher short-term rental fees ($4 million to $5 million) and payments from tax-exempt institutions.
- Roll-forward cost: about $200 more a year on a $300,000 home and $400 more on a $500,000 home. A public hearing is set for Oct. 29.
Read This First
Two weeks before this budget came out, Langston Price asked who City Hall would make pay. Now we know. Read his analysis: New Orleans 2027 Budget Cuts: Who Pays the Price?
Mayor Helena Moreno presented her plan to the City Council on Sept. 22. I read the Moreno 2027 budget the way I read a contractor’s bid. Skip the cover letter. Go to the line items.
Why the City Is Cutting
This year, New Orleans patched its budget with one-time money. That money is spent. Without it, the city expects a gap of roughly $100 million in 2027.
Most of the budget is already spoken for before anyone makes a choice. Of the $763 million general fund, about $576 million goes to public safety, pensions, health insurance, debt and outside agencies, Verite News reported. That leaves about $187 million for everything else. Everything else is where the cuts land.
What the Moreno 2027 Budget Cuts
| Area | Proposed cut | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| City jobs | 152 positions | About 3% of the city workforce |
| Health Department | $9.9 million (32%) | Low-barrier homeless shelter could close; about 200 people at risk (see below) |
| Public Works | $9.8 million | Slower street and drainage repair |
| Fire Department | $8.5 million | Frontline staff to be protected “as much as possible” |
| NOPD | $167 million budget | $16 million less than NOPD requested |
| Workforce Development | $500,000 (100%) | Eliminated |
| Community Development | About $1.17 million (90%) | Left with under $130,000 |
| Mardi Gras cleanup | $1.75 million | Less trash pickup on parade routes |
Sources: Verite News and Fox 8.
Why the Shelter Cut Is Bigger Than It Looks
Most of the Health Department savings would come from possibly closing the city’s low-barrier shelter on Gravier Street, open since 2018. Councilmember Lesli Harris warned about 200 people would end up on the street.
Here is the problem. Louisiana just made that a crime. House Bill 211, which Gov. Jeff Landry signed in June, makes sleeping or camping on public property punishable by up to $500 and six months in jail. The jail penalty applies statewide. The treatment and housing programs meant to go with it are optional for local governments.
State leaders are also moving to take over homeless services in the city, Verite News reported. Put it together: the city cuts the beds, the state makes the street a crime, and the people with nowhere to go end up in jail. That costs more than the shelter did.
What She Protected
Credit where it is due. Furloughs end. NORD loses only about $96,000. The Council on Aging is untouched. Moreno and CAO Joe Giarrusso each take a 10 percent pay cut.
Where It Goes Wrong
Look at the two lines wiped out: job training and community development. Garbage pickup keeps a neighborhood from sliding backward. Those programs move people forward.
Bringing both back costs about $1.7 million. That is two-tenths of one percent of the general fund.
The city already told the council where it could find that money. Raising the nightly fee on short-term rentals could bring in $4 million to $5 million. That would restore both programs and cover most of the shelter cut.
The Property Tax Question
The city is also weighing a millage roll-forward. In plain terms, it is a property tax increase that the City Council can pass on its own, with five of seven votes and no election.
Millage Explainer
Your property tax is a rate (the “millage”) multiplied by what your home is assessed at.
Rollback: When assessments go up, Louisiana law makes the city lower its rate so it collects about the same total as before. Your value goes up, your rate goes down, and your bill stays roughly the same.
Roll-forward: The council votes to push the rate back up toward the highest rate previously authorized. The city collects more, and your bill goes up.
Who decides: Only the council. It takes a two-thirds vote and a public hearing. Voters do not get a say.
What it costs: About $200 more a year on a $300,000 home. About $400 more on a $500,000 home. Renters can feel it when landlords pass it on.
History: New Orleans last did a full roll-forward in 2015.
Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack called it “a necessary evil” that would make the cuts easier to stomach. Councilmember Jason Hughes, who represents New Orleans East, sees the other side. “$70, $100 a year, $200, that may not seem like a lot, but to the residents that I represent, it is,” he said. He is right. The median household income in this city is about $56,600.
Who Should Pay First
There is a better order. Giarrusso says the city is studying cost-sharing with tax-exempt institutions. Tulane University owns a large amount of property here and pays no property tax on it. Other cities charge universities and hospitals a fee for the city services they use. Those universities did not leave.
Raise the short-term rental fees. Put a real number on institutional payments. Only after that should the council ask homeowners for a roll-forward.
What You Can Do
The roll-forward hearing is Oct. 29 in council chambers. The final budget is due Dec. 1. Check the council calendar. Then call your district councilmember and both at-large members with three questions. Will you restore job training and community development? Will you raise short-term rental fees before voting on a roll-forward? Will you get a commitment from tax-exempt institutions this year?
For what the health cuts mean for our families, read Denise Tureaud’s New Orleans Budget Deficit: What It Means for Our Health.
Moreno balanced the budget. Now the council decides whether it was balanced on the right people.
About the Author
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and owner of WBOK 1230 AM. A licensed general contractor and technology executive with more than 30 years in business, he writes Sundays on politics, power and the civic life of Black New Orleans and Louisiana.
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Sources
- Fox 8 WVUE, “Moreno lays out budget priorities in 2027 city plan that projects $77 million more in cuts,” Sept. 22, 2026. fox8live.com
- Verite News, “Moreno proposes lean $1.47 billion city budget for 2027, with layoffs and further cuts,” Sept. 22, 2026. veritenews.org
- Fox 8 WVUE, “Auditor: Higher property taxes could offset some New Orleans budget cuts,” Sept. 23, 2026. fox8live.com
- WWL, “Tax millage roll-forward is New Orleans’ big budget question,” September 2026. audacy.com
- KPLC, “Bill criminalizing unauthorized camping awaits Gov. Landry’s signature,” June 2, 2026. kplctv.com
- Louisiana Illuminator, “Louisiana’s new anti-homelessness law punishes people already living a sentence,” Sept. 2, 2026. lailluminator.com
- Louisiana Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. 23. findlaw.com
- New Orleans City Council, Meetings and Hearings. council.nola.gov
