NEW ORLEANS — The relationship between the New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell and the city council has been strained in recent months.
They’ve clashed over public safety; the mayor’s travel expenses and a proposed charter change amendment giving the council confirmation power over the mayor’s top appointees.
As the city budget process officially began on Tuesday, the mayor made a rare appearance before the council, striking a conciliatory tone.
“You have stood tall as a council," Cantrell said. “I’ve seen that. You have made sure that you are one, not only strong but also, you’re independent. I respect that.”
The administration’s nearly $5 billion spending plan for next year includes a 5-percent pay raise for all city employees, additional raises for first responders and more money to fund the city’s new sanitation contracts.
The budget also calls for a $21 million cut to the NOPD.
The reduction reflects the shrinking department’s current manpower of about a thousand officers.
The department was budgeted for 1,200 officers.
The NOPD would still get close to $155 million.
That would fund the current size of the department, plus 20-percent.
Budget committee chair Joe Giarrusso says this year, the NOPD is set to end the year with a $70 million surplus.
“So, we want to make very clear that we are committed to recruiting, to retention, to making sure we are giving NOPD and other departments what they need to be successful, but we don’t want them to have such a large piggy bank at the end,” Giarrusso said.
The city would be able to draw from a $130 million reserve account, if the NOPD suddenly sees a hiring surge.
“I don’t really agree with the premise that they’re taking a hit. I think it’s a snapshot that we’re providing them to be able to provide those services necessary in quarter one,” New Orleans CAO Gilbert Montano said.
Budget hearings begin next week.
The city council must approve next year’s budget by December 1.
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