New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell will present her administration’s final annual budget proposal to the City Council Wednesday, as the city’s financial outlook for next year continues to worsen and officials grapple with a deficit they aren’t sure the size of.
The city’s revenue estimating body on Monday shaved another $7 million off the official 2026 general fund revenue forecast, reducing it to $725.6 million. That’s $20 million less than the forecast for this year, which is already $31 million below what was estimated when the year began.
Meanwhile, the Cantrell administration is reporting a $73 million overrun in personnel spending, the cause of which has been a moving target. The former chief administrative officer, Gilbert Montaño, in May attributed more than half that amount to the public safety overtime response to the Jan. 1 truck attack on Bourbon Street, increased security protocols for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras and the historic January blizzard.
But two weeks after Montaño stepped down at the end of August, the administration presented a slide showing those expenses amount to just $8 million. Reached by phone, Montaño said the most recent estimate was calculated after he left office and he is not sure how it was done. He declined further comment…