2026-10-22 - Budget-Audit-Board of Review Committee

01:59Mhm.

05:21>> Ready to go, Ashley? First up is roll

05:23call, budget chair. Council member

05:25Harris? Here. Council member Willard?

05:27Council member Morrell? We have a

05:29quorum. All right, Ashley. We're going

05:31to take things out of order just to get

05:33over the voting items. All right. Next

05:35up is approval of the minutes from the

05:36September 22nd, 2026 joint utility,

05:39cable, and telecommunications, and GA,

05:43and budget committee meetings. I'll

05:45move.

05:46Seconded by Council Member Moore. All in

05:48favor?

05:49>> Aye.

05:50>> All right. Three ayes. Then we're going

05:52to jump to number four, which is motion

05:54M-26-459

05:56by Council Member Harris. And this is a

05:58motion that authorizes the RFP to select

06:00our audit firms to conduct the financial

06:03and pension audits for fiscal year 2026

06:05and four subsequent years. Just for your

06:08information, all of these

06:10um contracts are expiring and we have to

06:12issue new RFPs to get our audit

06:15contracts done. Any questions?

06:18If not, I'll move.

06:21Seconded by Council Member Willard.

06:26All in favor?

06:27>> Aye.

06:29>> Three ayes. All right. And number five

06:32of the civil service pay plans, all of

06:34these items five A through V as in

06:37Victor will be deferred to the November

06:3919th Council meeting. Great. Thank you,

06:41Ashley. All right. And then up next we

06:44have the CAO and finance budget

06:46presentation starting off with the

06:48August 2026 budget reports and executive

06:51summary followed by a millage proposal

06:53presentation.

07:17>> Yeah.

07:19>> That'd be awesome.

07:42>> You ready?

07:44>> Sure.

07:45>> She's ready. She's ready.

07:47Just go down.

07:49>> Next page.

07:51>> It's just a preview of

07:54Can you get it?

07:56>> Just cuz it's a preview of it and I

07:57don't

07:58It's kind of

07:59powerful.

08:02Sorry.

08:03So we can't figure out how to enlarge

08:04it.

08:07Same.

08:08Blow it up, maybe?

08:10To just show the chart?

08:12>> He's coming.

08:13>> He's going to fix it.

08:17Oh, see.

08:18How do we make

08:20it full screen?

08:21>> Uh-uh.

08:21>> I mean, there is a way.

08:24>> Should be.

08:30>> Ready?

08:32Alrighty. Good afternoon.

08:34Today, we will be providing the overview

08:37of the city's financial performance

08:38through August 2026.

08:42I'll start with the revenues and then

08:43I'll turn it over to the budget director

08:45here to go through the expenditure

08:47detail and then I'll wrap up with a fund

08:50balance projection.

08:52Um on this chart here, as of October

08:56Excuse me, August 31st, the city's

08:58financial position reflects $558 million

09:02in dollars

09:03in operating revenues and $483

09:06million in personnel and other operating

09:08expenditures, resulting in 700 Excuse

09:13me, year-to-date net

09:17position.

09:20On the far right of the chart here, you

09:21can see operating expenditure operating

09:23revenues are approximately 48 million

09:26above the year-to-date budget.

09:29And expenditures are below by 50.5

09:33million

09:35when compared to the spending benchmark.

09:37That expenditure benchmark is a useful

09:39comparison, but always want to remind

09:41you that spending does not occur evenly

09:44throughout the year, so these variances

09:45should not be interpreted as a year-end

09:47projection.

09:49The other financing section,

09:52the activity primarily reflects the

09:54transfers between the city's cash

09:56management fund, which we have used

09:58throughout the year to manage timing

10:00differences between revenue collections

10:02and expenditures.

10:04Because cash flow cash inflows and

10:07outflows do not occur at the same time

10:09or at consistent levels, these transfers

10:11help manage the city's cash needs

10:13throughout the year and should not be

10:15confused with operating revenue or

10:17interpreted as additional revenue

10:18available to support the budget.

10:21Overall, the revenue results remain

10:23favorable against the forecast, while

10:25spending is below the straight-line

10:27benchmark.

10:29Next slide.

10:32Now we'll move on to the revenue

10:33collections report.

10:35Starting on the left with property

10:37taxes, collections are approximately 174

10:40million, slightly below the 175

10:43collected at this point last year, and

10:45just above the year-to-date budget of

10:47171 million.

10:50Moving on to sales tax, we're

10:52approximately 188 million dollars, which

10:55is essentially unchanged from last year

10:58and above the year-to-date budget of 178

11:00million.

11:02Specifically, hotel motel are below

11:052025 marks, while parking tax

11:07collections have increased.

11:10This category remains important to

11:11monitor as we assess the revenue outlook

11:13for the balance of the year.

11:17Service charge collections are

11:18approximately 65 million, which is down

11:213.2 or 4.7 from 2025,

11:26representing 63.8 of the annual

11:28forecast.

11:30Public safety service charges are down

11:32compared with the prior year, while

11:34sanitation charges are slightly higher.

11:37And because this category is below the

11:39prior year level, we'll continue

11:41tracking collections and the underlying

11:43activity driving driving these receipts.

11:46Licenses and permits, collections

11:49approximately 58.4 million representing

11:5277.1 of the annual forecast.

11:56As we've heard, occupational license

11:58collections are approximately 11.9

12:00million or 109%

12:03of their annual forecast.

12:06Alcoholic beverage license collections

12:08are also above their annual forecast.

12:11In contrast, building permit collections

12:13are approximately 47% of their annual

12:16forecast and are below the prior year

12:19level. [clears throat]

12:20Overall, the category is positive, but

12:23individual revenue sources show the

12:25different patterns.

12:27And then of course in the other

12:29category, which is approximately 72

12:31million compared to the 43 last year and

12:35a budget of 50,

12:37the increase is primarily driven by the

12:39miscellaneous revenue including

12:40transfers from NOBC and the assessor's

12:43office.

12:44Excluding the increase in the

12:46miscellaneous revenue, the operating

12:48revenue categories the other operating

12:50revenue categories collectively declined

12:52by approximately 6.6 million with 20

12:56compared to 2025.

12:59We should not assume that the elevated

13:00miscellaneous receipts will continue at

13:02the same pace of course without

13:04reviewing their underlying nature and

13:05expected recurrence.

13:08So that brings our total operating

13:09revenue of approximately 558 million

13:12compared to the 539 million this time

13:15last year and our budget of 510 million.

13:25All right.

13:26Moving on to the expenses.

13:32>> Through August, combined personnel and

13:34other operating expenditures totaled

13:36approximately 482.7

13:38million or 60.3%

13:41of the adopted budget. This is

13:43approximately 50.5 million below

13:46year-to-date benchmark. Personnel

13:48spending totaled 292.1 million

13:51while other operating was 190.6.

13:55Both below their benchmarks. Just want

13:57to note, too, we are in quarter four.

13:58So, in quarter four, uh the budget

14:00office does a different dive and

14:02analysis with departments. So, they

14:04start looking at open purchase orders,

14:06making sure everything is in

14:08expenditures. So, we may see some ramp

14:11up to make sure bills are paid, right?

14:13So, we're not getting in trouble with

14:14the list here, right? So, we do that

14:16deep dive. So, every department is not

14:18contacted, but there are ones with like

14:19the most [clears throat] spending. We're

14:20contacting those.

14:22For overtime, August overtime spending

14:24totaled approximately 1.6 million, which

14:28was 780,000 below projections and 1.9

14:31million below August of last year.

14:34Year-to-date overtime spending totaled

14:36approximately

14:3818 million against an annual budget of

14:4038.9 million. The administration

14:42continues to enforce overtime controls,

14:45and departments continually are asked to

14:48review and reduce overtime spending

14:50where applicable.

14:52For staffing,

14:54as of August 31st, the city had 40

14:57roughly 4,400 filled positions out of

15:004,781

15:02budgeted positions, leaving about 342

15:05vacancies for about a 7% vacancy rate.

15:09They These did increase from the

15:11previous month, a lot due to budget

15:13freeze freezes. And even though some of

15:15the biggest offices, like aviation and

15:17even some of the public works that are

15:19using alternate funding sources, people

15:21are just being really cautious of the

15:23spending on these actual critical hires

15:25even if it's not general fund at this

15:27time. So, we're just having more review.

15:32>> Okay.

15:34So, to wrap it up, as of August 31st,

15:372026, the 2025 general fund consolidated

15:40starting balance was $67.3

15:43million.

15:46We had a consolidated

15:48surplus of $179 million for a combined

15:52reported balance of $246.3

15:55million

15:57as of August 31st, 2026.

16:01In closing, the August results show a

16:03positive year-to-date operating position

16:06with revenue ahead of forecast and

16:07expenditures below the year-to-date

16:09benchmark.

16:10However, revenue growth is largely

16:12driven by the miscellaneous receipts

16:14rather than the broad-based increases

16:16across revenue sources.

16:18As we move toward year-end, we will

16:20continue to monitor recurring revenues.

16:23We will maintain spending discipline and

16:24evaluate fund balances in the context of

16:27their intended uses.

16:29And that concludes my report.

16:31>> Thank you, Councilmember McCaren.

16:34Alyssa,

16:35um I want to just touch back on the

16:36building permits. I know where you said

16:39we're what, 47%?

16:42Have Have we looked at why that is? Is

16:43it Do we not have a lot of people

16:45applying for permits? Is it a processing

16:48time and we're not getting them

16:49processed?

16:50What do you have Y'all any insight on

16:52that?

16:52>> Um working with Susanna on that and

16:54we're um coming together on a

16:56reconciliation process, but we believe

16:58it has to do with the timing of when she

17:00actually issues or believes that the

17:02issuance will happen and then the actual

17:04collections of those um permits. So, in

17:07her report, she believes we're going to

17:08meet budget still, um if not exceed it,

17:11and then um I'm just waiting to collect

17:13the revenue.

17:14>> Okay. When you get that from her, will

17:17you let us know

17:18>> Yes.

17:18>> what you find?

17:19>> Yes, exactly.

17:20>> Thank you.

17:21All right, thank you. This concludes

17:23your part, Alyssa. You're done.

17:25Council Member Wheeler.

17:26>> Hey, Alyssa. How's the sales tax audits

17:28going?

17:29>> Yeah, I'm glad you asked.

17:31We are, I guess, what, 3 weeks in,

17:33started in October 1st, and we're just

17:35at just about a million dollars

17:37receipts.

17:38But we do I did get a message from Romy

17:41today. She's hoping for some more

17:43visibility. We've had it on

17:46social media.

17:47>> Are you talking about amnesty?

17:49>> Oh,

17:50sorry. Yes, that's what I wanted to talk

17:52about.

17:52>> That was my second That was my second

17:53question. You can finish with the

17:55amnesty.

17:56>> Yeah, so we're we're hoping to do some

17:58more media outreach to bring in We want

18:02to get close to 3 to 5 million dollars

18:04in receipts by the end of the year.

18:06>> And we're at a million now?

18:07>> Mhm.

18:08>> All right. How much did we include in

18:10the budget to bring in for this?

18:12>> For the amnesty?

18:14>> Did we include that in the

18:15>> No.

18:16>> The the

18:17question that I was asking about are the

18:19audits for sales taxes.

18:22>> And how many have we

18:23>> Yeah, I just how's it going this year?

18:25>> Yeah, so it's definitely increased. The

18:28piece that I'm working on is actually

18:29seeing more collections. So we're trying

18:32to figure out for the ones that

18:34where there's seats or liens had to be

18:36filed or if we're just sending that

18:38straight to the office of debt recovery,

18:40how quickly can we get those

18:43collections in?

18:44>> Can you guys get get us an update on the

18:46sales tax audit?

18:47>> On the numbers, yes. I certainly will.

18:49>> That'd be great. All right, thanks,

18:50Alyssa.

18:50>> Thank you.

18:51>> Thank you, Alyssa, and to the media who

18:53are here, if you could report on the

18:55amnesty program, we need that money.

18:57Thanks, y'all.

18:59All right, next up

19:43>> Are you all okay to start?

19:45>> Yeah, please do. Abby, and if you could

19:46just bring the microphone closer.

19:48Thanks. Yeah. So, um I'm Abby Vian,

19:51Chief Performance Officer and Chief of

19:52Staff to the CAO. Andrew Tuzzolo,

19:54Special Counsel. Uh we're here today to

19:56talk about the millage roll forward.

19:59So, before we begin, none of this

20:00information is new, but I think it's

20:02helpful to situate the context of the

20:05millage roll forward in our budget,

20:06where we've been, and where we're going.

20:09So, for those of you who were here

20:11during the 2025 process of building the

20:142026 budget, you'll remember that we

20:16started that process with a $222 million

20:19budget gap, and only $725

20:22in forecasted recurring revenues. This

20:25year in 2026, we identified $160 million

20:29in one-time revenues, which brought our

20:31budget to $885 million.

20:34That supported recurring expenditures,

20:36but it also supported the repayment of

20:38the $125 million revenue anticipation

20:42note.

20:43And we also did a lot to cut spending on

20:46the expenditure side to align our

20:48spending with our available resources.

20:52In 2027, as we look ahead to next year

20:54and we build that budget now, we see a

20:57slightly higher revenue forecast of $748

21:01million, and a significantly smaller,

21:04but still notable budget gap of only $77

21:08We worked with departments to identify

21:10cuts in the budget to close that gap to

21:13be able to present a balanced budget

21:14where recurring revenues and recurring

21:16expenditures are aligned which we did

21:18last month but we've also devised

21:20additional recurring revenue solutions

21:23to be able to minimize those service

21:24cuts. That looks like increases to

21:27outdated permitting fees, the increase

21:29to the nightly STR fee and what we're

21:31discussing today a roll forward of the

21:33millage.

21:37So for the millions at home watching,

21:39what is a millage?

21:43So voters approve millages. Anytime a

21:45taxing authority which today we'll refer

21:48to the city of New Orleans desires to

21:51increase the funding available for a

21:53certain public service

21:55they propose to the voters of New

21:56Orleans a millage and that gets approved

21:58by voters and then on property owners

22:01tax bill they will see a millage which

22:04is essentially

22:05a proportion of their assessed property

22:08value that generates revenue for that

22:10particular public service.

22:12A millage or the value of a mill is

22:15equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable

22:18assessed property value

22:20which is essentially means that the city

22:21of New Orleans has $5.58 billion of

22:25assessed property assessed taxable which

22:28is important taxable property value

22:29[snorts] in the city of New Orleans and

22:31so if a mill is $1 for every $1,000 of

22:35those dollars that means that the value

22:36of one mill is $5.58

22:40The reason I say taxable is because only

22:43taxable properties are included in this

22:45number. So this is not account for

22:47nonprofits, universities, churches who

22:49do not pay property taxes. This only

22:51applies to anybody who is a taxable

22:54property and is paying those property

22:56taxes.

22:58When a millage is approved by voters it

23:00has a maximum number of mills that are

23:01levied for that particular millage.

23:04It's tied to the value of a home. So, if

23:07the value of a property goes up when the

23:09assessor does his assessments, the

23:12number of mills [clears throat] would

23:13naturally rise as well.

23:16However, that automatically does not

23:18occur because if millages rise, property

23:21taxes rise. And so, when assessed value

23:25increases, the millage numbers actually

23:27automatically decrease to maintain

23:29property taxes at a stable level unless

23:32the taxing authority chooses to roll

23:34millages forward.

23:35What that actually means is in practice,

23:38the tax base of the city of New Orleans

23:41can increase in value and the city is

23:43forgoing revenue increases to a

23:45corresponding amount unless it rolls the

23:47millages forward.

23:49And in the squares at the bottom of the

23:51slide, you can see how this plays out

23:53with rollback and roll forward actions

23:55over time, where in 2023, the total

23:58levies the total mills levied by the

24:00city of New Orleans were 134.53

24:04and today in 2026, they're

24:06notably less than that at 121.2.

24:10Even if the millages are all of the

24:12millages discussed today are rolled

24:13forward, that would bring the total city

24:16mills levied to 128.64,

24:19which is still less than the number of

24:21mills in 2023.

24:22>> And and can we pause here just for a

24:24second to talk a little bit about that

24:25total number, which I think is often

24:27misunderstood. There are a lot of

24:30different entities that can affect that

24:31total number. One is sitting right here.

24:33Another is the Board of Liquidation,

24:35too. So, as as the council members well

24:37know, for the public, as we um

24:41uh

24:42take on bonded indebtedness, the Board

24:44of Liquidation is required to set a mill

24:47that um

24:48allows us to pay that annual uh payment

24:52to be able to borrow that money. And

24:54that is not set by the council, it's set

24:56by the Board of Liquidation, and as

24:57bonds and we pay off bonds, those mills

25:00come off and that's been happening over

25:02the last several years, which is one of

25:03the effects on why the total um tax rate

25:07has been uh creeping downward. The

25:10other, of course, and this is uh going

25:12to happen next year is as properties are

25:14reassessed,

25:15and especially in that quadrennial, the

25:18total assessment cannot cause that tax

25:19increase, which of course relates to

25:21this roll forward. And so that number

25:24creeps downward as the total assessed

25:26property value gets bigger. So that's

25:28just one of the ways in which both the

25:29council has the authority, there are

25:31other taxing authorities, but also there

25:33are some automatic indicators in there

25:35that does affect the the millage rate.

25:36And and to note, the Board of

25:38Liquidation rate has been falling, which

25:40has been creating a slight a slight

25:42decrease in the total taxable rate over

25:44the last several years. So I'm sorry,

25:46Abby, I just wanted to point that out.

25:50>> Uh there's a lot of data on this slide

25:51and the next. I want particularly to

25:54call attention to the the name of the

25:56millage and the far right column, which

25:58is the estimated additional revenue

26:00generated by each millage if it were to

26:01be rolled forward. So the first two,

26:04general alimony and unrestricted general

26:06fund, are simply millages for the

26:08purposes of general city operations.

26:11They fund anything deemed appropriate

26:13and appropriated by the city council and

26:15the mayor. If they are rolled forward,

26:17collectively, we believe they would

26:18bring in about $10 million in additional

26:21revenue or about 84 million in total

26:24next year.

26:25The following five millages are also

26:28going to come to our general fund, but

26:29they are for dedicated uses as

26:31established when voters approved them on

26:33their ballots. So police and fire, they

26:36fund police and fire activities. Parks

26:39and parkways goes to the parkways

26:40department and the recreation department

26:43is north. That funds our our uh our

26:46north.

26:47Um

26:49The uh one point that I want to make

26:51here is that the general fund, other

26:54types of revenues in the general fund,

26:55so permits, tax from sales tax, and

26:58other revenues make up a difference

27:00between the total appropriation to those

27:02departments and the actual revenue that

27:04comes in from the millage. In other

27:06words, these departments are not

27:07entirely funded by the millage revenues

27:09alone, and even if we were to roll

27:11forward each millage associated with the

27:14dedicated use of each of those

27:15departments, we would still be short in

27:17terms of the full cost to operate each

27:20department, uh, looking at our proposed

27:22budget numbers for next year.

27:23>> And I'll pause here again, and I want to

27:25thank the chair for bringing this to

27:27everyone's attention because what we've

27:29tried to do here is very clearly

27:31delineate the mills that actually affect

27:34the budget deficit that y'all are facing

27:36as opposed to other millages that do

27:38affect other services, but cannot affect

27:41the deficit that we are trying to close.

27:43And I think it's important to note, as

27:45we've said in the past, what's

27:46represented above here is $21 million

27:48that affected general fund general

27:51services that y'all would affect. There

27:52are other millages out there, but those

27:55do not affect that deficit. I just want

27:57to drive that point home, especially for

27:58the press, because there's been a little

28:00bit of misunderstanding out there,

28:02because of course there are other mills

28:04that we can roll forward that have

28:05really important services, whether

28:07libraries, early childhood, etc. One

28:09other note as well, there's a star up

28:12there, asterisk next to parks and

28:14parkways in the recreation department.

28:16Years ago, several years ago, the voters

28:18approved what basically is a combined

28:21millage for both those two items and

28:23also Audubon. And so there is a third

28:26element, third, I think, just third,

28:28element to that that all roll together.

28:30So I just want to note that that while

28:32there is another piece of that millage

28:34that would go forward if you rolled

28:36parks and recreation, it does not affect

28:39the general fund. I just want to make

28:41that point clear,

28:42so that everybody can understand.

28:46>> Yeah, and so to Andrew's point, these

28:47are the other millages that would

28:49provide revenue to the city

28:51but not to the city's general fund. So,

28:53the prior slide showed about 21.5

28:55million in new revenues to city

28:58operations dedicated or otherwise. This

29:00slide is additional revenue for specific

29:03purposes outside of that. So, the police

29:06and fire platoon millage is strictly for

29:09the funding of fire and police platoons.

29:11That looks like platoon operations and

29:13direct payment to police officers and

29:15firefighters. That would generate about

29:174.3 million in additional revenue.

29:20The library would receive additional

29:22revenue directly to the library. The

29:25early childhood education millage funds

29:27seats for early childhood.

29:30That would generate about 3.4 million in

29:32additional revenue and we spoke with

29:35Agenda for Children who estimates that

29:36this would potentially lead to up to 200

29:39new seats if received next year.

29:42The

29:43to Andrew's point about the parks

29:44millage, the four components it's four

29:47when you include City Park

29:49of the parks millage include the

29:51previous slide NORD and

29:54parkways but it also includes Audubon

29:56and City Park who receive revenue

29:58directly from the parks millage split

30:00four ways. And while that funding would

30:02go directly to those agencies, we do

30:05have partnerships in place with them to

30:07identify places where there are current

30:10general fund obligations that could be

30:12appropriately shifted to them with new

30:14resources they would receive from the

30:15millage roll forward. One example of

30:17that is Crescent Park which is being

30:19developed at the riverfront by Audubon.

30:21I think it's about $260,000

30:24for the security that is currently paid

30:26for by the city. So, we've been in

30:27discussions about sharing some of those

30:29costs with new revenues.

30:30>> Yeah, I'll point out here. I know

30:33I know Councilmember King isn't here but

30:35for Councilmember Harris as well for all

30:37the riverfront as she just noted, we

30:39have been in deep discussions and if you

30:41were to roll forward that millage, we

30:42would dedicate some of that money for

30:44security and public safety on the

30:46riverfront, which has been a long-time

30:48and current concern, as I'm on several

30:51email chains today about issues around

30:53there. So, we are

30:54if that were to roll forward, we would

30:56be dedicating some of that money to

30:57that.

31:00>> And I know this is a priority of the

31:02City Council and the budget chair as

31:03well as the administration to provide

31:06this information directly to the public

31:08about what their impact would look like

31:10if the millages were rolled forward. And

31:12so, if you will indulge me, I will

31:14actually pull up the

31:16calculator and walk through it so that

31:17the public can see how to use it.

31:21>> As well, while Abby's pulling this up,

31:23there's a really cool piece of this

31:24calculator, which we'll show you in a

31:26moment, that allows you to toggle each

31:29millage and determine how much money the

31:32city would garner from each millage roll

31:34forward. And she's going to show you in

31:36a moment, and that that gives you the

31:38overall macro context. And then, on an

31:40individualized basis, you can determine

31:43what does it affect? How does it affect

31:44me as property owner? And that gives

31:46that other sort of variable there,

31:48because I know a lot of folks um cannot

31:51sort of perceive of what this means. A

31:53tax increase could be a lot or a little.

31:55In most cases, as we'll show you, the

31:57roll forward that is on the table as one

31:59of the menu of revenue options has a

32:01pretty small impact on the average

32:04house, about $160 per year. It's not

32:07nothing. It is for those who are facing

32:09affordability issues, it's not zero, but

32:12it is not a huge amount. The average tax

32:15bill is much higher than that, several

32:17thousand. So, this is less than a

32:18several single-digit increase in taxes,

32:21if you want to put it in those contexts.

32:23But, I still want to

32:24Abby will provide a little bit more of

32:26context as we play with the little tool.

32:28I think it's on the right there.

32:30Okay.

32:30>> Um

32:31so, this page is nola.gov/millages.

32:34Anybody can access this. This provides a

32:37lot of helpful information about what a

32:39millage is, how to understand your

32:40property tax bill, what a homestead

32:42exemption is. If you continue to scroll

32:45down, we have the notice of the November

32:485th meeting where this will be heard,

32:50and the enumeration of the different

32:53millages we've been discussing today.

32:55And all the way toward the bottom, you

32:56can actually click this button here that

32:58says calculate your property tax change.

33:03And as Andrew mentioned, you can toggle

33:05different scenarios which I will show in

33:07a moment, but this auto generates to

33:10$315,700,

33:13which is the average home price in the

33:14city of New Orleans. Now, you can see

33:17here

33:18for that average price in New Orleans,

33:20the annual increase to somebody's

33:22property tax bill would be $190.

33:25If you escrow your taxes on a monthly

33:27basis, that looks like a little bit less

33:28than $16 a month.

33:30If you want to go, and we encourage all

33:32residents and and property owners to do

33:34this, and input your exact assessed

33:37value, you can see the varying impact on

33:40your bill.

33:46So, if you have a $200,000 property on

33:49the West Bank, you would see estimate of

33:52about a $104 increase on an annual

33:55basis, or about $8.66 each month. And

33:59you can go in, you can play around with

34:01whether you have a homestead exemption,

34:03what type of property you have, again,

34:05whether you live on the East or West

34:07Bank.

34:09>> And while Abby's doing this, I want to

34:11point out this is for all of the

34:12millages to roll forward. If we were

34:14only discussing the general fund ones, I

34:16was giving that average earlier, just to

34:18clarify.

34:20>> And so, for a $250,000 home, $141

34:24annually, or $11.76

34:27per month. And so, what Andrew is

34:30discussing is this little toggle section

34:32right beneath the section I was playing

34:34with, where you can play around and say,

34:36you know, you really just want to have

34:37the general fund and the parks and the

34:40library funded. That actually decreases

34:43the overall impact to just $80.31 per

34:46year or $6.69

34:48for a $250,000 home. So, not only can

34:51you customize it to the actual assessed

34:54value of your property, but you can see

34:57what different scenarios would look like

34:59if not every millage was rolled forward

35:01compared to if the full

35:03uh slate of millages are rolled forward.

35:07If you don't know, which is

35:09understandable, what the exact assessed

35:10value of your property is, we have

35:12linked here the Assessor's Parish

35:14website, uh the Orleans Parish

35:16Assessor's website, and you can actually

35:18search by address your own property, and

35:20you can find your exact assessed value

35:22and use that to input into this

35:24calculator to get the right numbers.

35:28A little bit further down, we provide

35:30information specifically about each

35:33millage, what it goes to, how much your

35:36specific contribution

35:38uh is split between the different

35:39millages, and the estimated revenues it

35:42would bring into the city if it were

35:43rolled forward.

35:45And for the math nerds, you can show the

35:48calculation details and see exactly what

35:50assumptions are factored into this.

35:52And I want to give Adam Gordon a shout

35:54out for building this. He's behind me,

35:55and if there are detailed questions, I

35:57will refer to him.

36:10Okay, so

36:11um we have been discussing the millage

36:13roll forward as a revenue source, and

36:16this slide enumerates Mayor Moreno's

36:19priorities for restoring services with

36:21additional recurring revenues. I want

36:23to, before I turn it to Andrew, just

36:25really emphasize the recurring nature of

36:28these revenues. In 2026, we had such a

36:31large number of one-time revenues that

36:33functioned as a recovery mode and to

36:36support us and get us through the rest

36:38of this year. And what we really need to

36:41look at going forward to sustainably

36:43support our expenditures is recurring

36:45revenues. And so we've been trying to do

36:46that collectively, the city council and

36:48the administration, and rolling the

36:50millage rate forward is the single

36:51largest option that we have at the

36:53moment for increasing our recurring

36:55revenues. Um and so in doing so, we

36:58would be able to restore certain cuts

36:59that are imposed in the proposed 2027

37:02budget.

37:04>> Okay, so um before I start with these

37:07obvious you can see them on the board

37:09here. I want and I know that they've

37:10already been published. One thing I did

37:12want to note is that how did we get to

37:14these priorities? And I want to um thank

37:16the council for all their collaboration.

37:18So,

37:19where do we start? So, we had seven

37:21community budget meetings where we heard

37:23from and I know a lot of the members

37:25showed up for those. Thank you for doing

37:26so. Hearing from the public on specific

37:28issues. I know the council members are

37:30holding at least maybe half a dozen

37:32budget uh town halls maybe starting

37:34tonight even um and going through the

37:36next couple weeks to hear feedback.

37:38We've been in close conversation with

37:40members for uh weeks now hearing out um

37:43their concerns. I know my team has been

37:44running around the second floor talking

37:47to folks and hearing about their

37:48interests and their concerns. I know

37:50that the mayor has spoken to council

37:53members directly as well and we've heard

37:54from council members directly and also

37:56from the community. I know that um some

37:58of you have seen this but we've also uh

38:00had a a survey out there um for uh

38:03during our community budget hearings we

38:05had a survey and we sort of garnered

38:07some of those responses too. And through

38:10all of those pieces, hundreds of

38:11responses, people saying basically they

38:13wanted infrastructure, neighborhoods and

38:15quality of life, public safety. They

38:17want fiscal responsibility. They want to

38:19make sure our city workforce is taken

38:20care of. They want to make sure that

38:22we're growing the economy and we we the

38:24um growing jobs.

38:26All of that input helped the mayor come

38:28to a list of items that if the council

38:31were to roll forward, the millage would

38:33be the last piece of revenue. We've

38:36already worked on a bunch others with

38:37you that we would fund these things. I

38:41want to go through them in an open I'm

38:42sure council members might have

38:44comments. We'll go through some of these

38:46that these priorities that again that

38:48the mayor wanted to restore if the

38:49millages are rolled forward. This this

38:51is what the mayor would choose to

38:53restore again because of all the input

38:56that she's received both from the

38:57community and the council. So

38:59as you all know the low barrier shelter

39:01is on that list. She chose to restore

39:03that. Right the council is something

39:05that the both the city council this city

39:07council and the previous city council

39:09worked very hard to achieve and we've

39:11agreed that that is incredibly important

39:13both for eviction to prevent eviction

39:16and create housing

39:18stability in in this in this community.

39:20Sanitation services. I know there are

39:22two pieces here. So I'm going to get to

39:24the Mardi Gras thing but sanitation

39:26services overall. We heard from

39:28sanitation the other day. I know you

39:29heard from them. Every department was

39:32asked to make a percentage cut.

39:34Sanitation doesn't have much but people

39:37and so their choices were not many and I

39:40know that Matt Tory was you know

39:43rightfully I think really

39:45he had to do some really hard choices

39:46when he when he returned those cuts to

39:49the CAO's office. He had to do so

39:50because that's what was there and so

39:52what he provided was this cut that met

39:54the requirements but ultimately really

39:56cut the head count there which really

39:59affects service. I want to point out

40:00those services include not just the

40:02cleaning up illegal dumping which is

40:03important to all members but also

40:05cleaning up those public trash cans you

40:07all see running our trash trucks which

40:09we own and doing cleanups after other

40:11events. That's really important. We know

40:14that. The mayor knows that. Basic

40:15services. That's a quality of life

40:17issue. So, another piece of course, I

40:19know Councilmember Harris and others

40:20have said, you know, we have to have the

40:21Mardi Gras clean up. I Councilmember

40:23Willard, I read your comments the other

40:24day. Of course, we have to clean up

40:25after Mardi Gras. Everybody understands

40:27that. This is These are just services

40:28that we had to take a look at. The mayor

40:30would like to restore that. Uh parks and

40:32parkways funding, I know Councilmember

40:34McKaren had been very clear that seeing

40:36the grass cut less frequently was not an

40:38option. So, we don't want We already

40:40have a delay there. Cuts to parks and

40:43parkways would increase that issue, and

40:46certainly neighbors all across the city

40:48hate to see overgrown lots and uh

40:49certainly overgrown uh public spaces,

40:51rather.

40:53Um when you see all of these public

40:54spaces overgrown, it makes all

40:55neighborhoods look bad. We don't want to

40:57delay those anymore, so we don't want to

40:58have those cuts. Neighborhood

41:00engagement, I know members are have

41:02worked very closely with our

41:03neighborhood engagement office. Um I

41:04want to point out here that not only is

41:06the mayor and the CAO are still

41:08sustaining that 10% salary cut in in

41:11solidarity to all the work we're doing

41:12for efficiency, we've also taken

41:14significant cuts in the mayor's office

41:16from last year, specifically. We have

41:18dozens of less people working in the

41:20mayor's office now, and this is another

41:22cut to the mayor's office. We don't want

41:23to make these cuts. We don't want to

41:24make any of these cuts, but this is

41:26again a place where we The mayor would

41:27like to see this restored. I'm sure the

41:29council as well.

41:30Fire department funding, uh fire

41:32department's doing excellent job. We

41:35asked for these uh this again percentage

41:37cut. The fire department

41:38gave us this option. This would mean

41:41reduced firefighters in firehouses,

41:43reduced fire protection services. I

41:45think everyone understands that's not

41:46something we want to see. Another um

41:49really important point, I think this is

41:51gets lost in the sauce, is that while

41:52we've had a tremendous reduction in

41:54violence in our community, historic

41:56reduction, multi-decade reduction in

41:58violence in our community. Bless you.

42:01But, this is not just been done through

42:04improved policing, which it has, but

42:06also a wrap-around of really important

42:09services, violence interruption

42:11services, which we have restored when we

42:13were on the council and when then

42:15council member Moreno and some of the

42:16members up here were on the council, we

42:17helped restore those the funding for

42:19that. We've also worked very hard with

42:22the previous council and now with this

42:23council to expand civilianization, and

42:26that's critical for a very important

42:29metric that everyone cares about, which

42:31is police response times. The way we

42:34have been able to reduce and

42:36our friend Jeff Asher has done some

42:37great work on this to show how much we

42:40have reduced the police response times

42:42from over 100 minutes to almost an hour

42:45for non-emergencies. That's people

42:47waiting for police for non-emergency

42:48things, let alone emergencies. We've

42:51reduced that as well.

42:52These civilians we've hired have

42:55radically altered the way we have

42:57utilized our limited officers. And by

42:59having basically the same number of

43:01officers, but responding to more things

43:03with civilians, whether it's the crisis

43:05response piece or our civilians

43:07responding to non-emergent, those folks

43:09are doing excellent work to take the

43:11load off our blue shirt officers and

43:13making sure we can respond quickly.

43:15Reducing that, including with those who

43:18respond to accidents to non-injury

43:21accidents, that's just not only quality

43:23of life, but it's a public safety issue.

43:25And so the mayor was very clear that

43:28we've worked so hard to get here that

43:30going backwards here, we just don't want

43:32to see that. Again, none of these cuts

43:33we want to see, but specifically this

43:35one we know there's been no real effect.

43:37There's a ROI on those civilian

43:40responders, and we know that cutting

43:43that will make effect. We've heard from

43:44the police on that. So we want to make

43:46sure we can do that. And the last thing

43:47that's on this list, but certainly not

43:49the ex- you know, again, none of these

43:51cuts we would love to do we want to do

43:52at all, but the maternal health funding,

43:55we're one of the few communities in

43:56Louisiana that provides extended and

43:59expanded access to care for recent

44:02mothers. I've heard wonderful testimony

44:04on that point when the health department

44:06was here. I heard council member

44:07McCaren, your points on that um

44:09and your lovely statement on that. We

44:11would not like to we we've made again,

44:13this is another example of a place where

44:14we made excellent progress in our

44:16community, provided a service that isn't

44:18provided in other places and there's

44:19been real impacts and we don't want to

44:21see that go away. So, again, that's the

44:23list that the mayor has uh put together

44:26uh hearing from all the stakeholders. Um

44:28I'm happy to discuss, you know, others.

44:30We know there are other things on the

44:31list we would also like not to, but as

44:34everybody knows, the numbers are the

44:36numbers. We have 77 million dollars in

44:38deficit even with a roll forward and all

44:40the revenues. We can't get the 77. So,

44:43there are things that we are going to

44:44have to forego, but these are things we

44:46think that with restoration on a millage

44:48uh roll forward, we would do this and we

44:50would save a lot of these basic services

44:52and continue that quality of life that

44:54we've been able to build over the last

44:55few years. So, with that, I'll I'll take

44:57questions.

44:57>> Thank you. I I really appreciate this uh

45:00presentation and and I know um

45:02a lot goes into it. Abby and Adam, thank

45:04you for producing this tool that is just

45:07so amazing that our office asked for so

45:09that people could get the information

45:11about what it would look like because I

45:13think when people hear a millage roll

45:15forward, they think it's going to be

45:16thousands of dollars when you can

45:18calculate on a hundred thousand dollar

45:20home that it's going to be about a

45:21hundred dollars

45:22um or, you know, a a few dollars a

45:25month. So, I really appreciate your work

45:26both of your work on this. I do think

45:29that the public needs to see it so that

45:32they can understand that essential

45:34services might go away if we don't roll

45:36these millages forward. Uh Mr. Tolleson,

45:39I also appreciate outlining the mayor's

45:41priorities. This is something that I

45:42asked for because I wanted to see where

45:45the mayor was because ultimately, you

45:47all administer the funds. We set the

45:50budget, but y'all administer it. So,

45:51these priorities, I think, align with a

45:53lot of what we can agree on up here as a

45:56council. I do have a question about um

45:59sanitation services.

46:01>> Sure.

46:01>> Does this include the other special

46:03event cleanups? So, that would be Super

46:05Sunday, for example, second line

46:07cleanups, bike classic,

46:09>> So,

46:09>> etc.

46:10>> Yeah, so I'm going to defer to Abby on

46:13this. There are like I have my big list

46:15of cuts here, which I know you're

46:16looking at, too. I believe that I if I'm

46:19not mistaken, there is an other item for

46:21those additional cleanup um which is

46:24more in the

46:25>> Yeah, it's

46:26it's it's about $180

46:27>> Yeah.

46:28>> it is $183

46:29>> Yeah.

46:30>> uh $490.

46:31>> [clears throat]

46:31>> So, one of the things I think I would

46:33just state is that obviously on the

46:35smaller amounts, I know we're going to

46:36work really hard over the year to make

46:38sure we close some of these smaller

46:39gaps. It's not to say that there's a

46:41guarantee. We are being incredibly

46:43conservative on revenue, as you're well

46:45aware, um holding ad valorem and sales

46:47at basically a 0% increase. We've also

46:50worked very hard and thank you to all of

46:51you who have helped us on other revenues

46:54with STRs, with as permits, Mardi Gras

46:56fee. Obviously, we moved the sanitation

46:58forward. So, there's a lot of other

47:01factors right now. I really appreciate

47:02the CAO's perspective on this, though,

47:04is that he's been incredibly

47:05conservative with all of the concerns

47:08and the mess from [clears throat] the

47:09previous administration. We've been very

47:11conservative to hold back and say,

47:12"Look, hopefully we get some revenues

47:14forward." And on these smaller items, I

47:16know and I can't speak for the CAO

47:17directly, but I think for sure we would

47:19work directly with y'all to make sure

47:20that these smaller items, as revenue

47:23appears, if it does, we'll make sure we

47:24take care of them.

47:25>> Thank you. I appreciate that. The other

47:27thing we heard yesterday was from the

47:29sheriff,

47:30>> Yeah.

47:30>> public defender, and the district

47:32attorney's office.

47:33>> Yeah.

47:34>> Um certainly those are bigger amounts

47:36than the $183,000

47:38uh special event cleanup, but I think

47:40it's something that we've all taken to

47:42heart to try to find that money

47:43somewhere. So, I'm I'm happy to work

47:45with my colleagues and the CAO's office

47:47to try to find those that money so that

47:49we can have a functioning public

47:51defender, for example, a functioning DA,

47:53so that we can lessen the cost of the

47:55sheriff's office

47:57um by reducing the population there.

48:00>> Yeah, I know we've worked very hard with

48:01the Sheriff's team and some of our folks

48:04to to lower that jail population. Thank

48:06for all y'all's help because the jail

48:08population being at 1,400 or or above is

48:12a huge cost to us ultimately, right?

48:15Because as y'all have seen with the

48:17health care contract, that's higher

48:18because they have more people. The

48:20staffing has to be higher. So, getting

48:22folks back to DOC, that's a no-brainer.

48:25Moving some other folks around,

48:26juveniles probably shouldn't be in in

48:28the first place. We have a lot of

48:31options there and I think hopefully with

48:32better management and and coordination

48:35with the Sheriff's office, we'll be able

48:36to get there.

48:37>> Yeah, and I asked these agencies to

48:39sharpen their pencils, get back to us

48:40with the actual numbers and I think once

48:43we get that information, the CAO's

48:44office, the Mayor's office, the Council,

48:47um we might be able to get there. So,

48:49thank you for this presentation. Thank

48:51you for the calculator. I really

48:52appreciate it because the public now can

48:54see exactly what a roll forward would

48:56mean for them. Council member Morrell,

48:59followed by Council member McKaren.

49:01>> Thank you.

49:03First, I just want to begin by saying um

49:07we will pass the budget, obviously, uh

49:09end of November, early December and

49:10should the charter amendment pass, it

49:13will change the complete nature of how

49:15the budget is managed in so far as

49:18it will no longer be the Council passes

49:21a budget and the administration

49:23administers it. It will be the Council

49:25passes a budget and that is the budget.

49:28And going forward, administrations will

49:31not have the flexibility to move money

49:32around without Council approval. So,

49:35we all kind of are are

49:37in the same ship sinking or sailing

49:40together. So, I just want to put that

49:41out as a point of clarification. Um

49:44I did know Andrew, the Mayor and I have

49:46had conversations with Mike Swire with

49:48Audubon Institute. Though they kind of

49:51get dragged along with parks and

49:53parkways and with Nord, the

49:54conversations we've had thus far, he has

49:58tacitly agreed that if Audubon's millage

50:01rolls forward

50:03that they will absorb the cost of

50:04maintaining Crescent Park, correct?

50:06>> That's right.

50:07>> And the money that the city and French

50:09Park Commission will save for not having

50:12to subsidize Crescent Park, will be

50:14money that is actually available to us

50:16to spend elsewhere.

50:17>> We could augment that. That's correct.

50:19>> Okay. Cuz I just want to be clear

50:21because at the end of the day,

50:22though it's not in the category of

50:25things that impact the general fund

50:29and we probably need to reduce that

50:30conversation with Mr. Swider writing,

50:32but

50:34it should actually indirectly impact the

50:36general fund and that will have that

50:38money available. Um when it comes to the

50:41jail, and this is something I think

50:42might be a point of contention. I

50:44appreciate the mayor having her her

50:46priorities

50:47and I know [snorts] Councilman Heisler

50:48is not here, but he and I both are in

50:50agreement with this.

50:53These are your priorities. We may have

50:55different priorities and we'll meet

50:56somewhere in the middle, but when it

50:57comes to the $1.2 million for the 27

51:00individuals to staff the new phase

51:03three, I don't think that's optional

51:06because having toured the facility with

51:08Judge Affrick

51:10either we can choose to pay it or we'll

51:12be made to pay it. And I know that this

51:14administration is not like the Cantrell

51:16administration where we will spend

51:18we are not going to spend millions of

51:20dollars on bad litigation to ultimately

51:23have to pay anyway. So, if we know that

51:261.2 is not a may, it's a shall, I think

51:29we're going to have to treat that as

51:31such in this budget season.

51:33>> Totally agree.

51:33>> So

51:34>> I I'll just note from our perspective

51:36that's new that was new information as

51:38of this week as I think it was to y'all.

51:40And so, obviously that was not something

51:42we took into effect, you know, impacting

51:44the budget. We'll obviously keep

51:45continuing working with them. I know the

51:47sheriff is under some significant

51:49pressure to make the jail a better

51:50place. She does have some taxing

51:51authority I hope over time that she also

51:54looks at because there is some over time

51:56there's some opportunity to offload.

51:58Ultimately I'll say generally for all of

51:59the external agencies, we are

52:02and and I think the CAO says this often,

52:05there's a significant huge amount, maybe

52:07hundred million dollar impact to our our

52:10general fund budget that goes directly

52:12out the door to pay for other stuff.

52:14Constant as you know, constitutional

52:16agencies that we did not create but that

52:19live in this world and then take from us

52:21and take from our taxpayers. And so what

52:23I think over time, I know the CAO is

52:25very focused on this, is to find ways

52:27for them to stand on their own two feet

52:29so that more of our tax dollars can go

52:31to the services that people actually

52:32elect you all and the mayor to implement

52:35and administer, not services that they

52:37just pass on to another elected official

52:39to administer in their own way without

52:41much impact from us.

52:42>> Well, and to that end, I think that you

52:44I'm sure you saw the exchange we had

52:47with the criminal court judges regarding

52:48their tremendous deficit with from the

52:50state of Louisiana with how we

52:52restructured the court.

52:54The court was kind of dragged along into

52:56a significant restructuring with the

52:58restructuring of the clerk's office. And

53:00to that end,

53:01I find that the clerk's office is in a

53:04very similar position to the sheriff's

53:06office when it was consolidated insofar

53:08as as we saw with Sheriff Hudson on our

53:10way out, as we were trying to find money

53:14to augment her office, we then found in

53:16the midst of Mike Waguespack's great

53:20work with audits,

53:21that she was sitting on almost twelve

53:23million dollars in

53:25revenue in a bank account that could

53:28have been offsetting some of the money

53:30the city had provided for years. To that

53:32end, it is my intention to reach out to

53:34the CAO and to jointly ask Mike

53:37Waguespack to look at the clerk's

53:39office. I I tell you just in some very

53:41rudimentary basic investigation the

53:44combined clerk's office has 300

53:46employees and it does not manage or

53:49staff juvenile court or traffic court.

53:53Um, nor does it pay for the minute

53:54clerks or the judges.

53:56Baton Rouge, their clerk's office that

53:59manages all of that has 170 employees.

54:03So, the the the point being that I hear

54:07the concerns from the criminal court

54:09judges

54:10I look at the clerk our current clerk is

54:12sitting on upwards of close to anywhere

54:15from 20 to 25 million dollars in

54:16surplus.

54:17The city will meet its obligations, but

54:20like with the sheriff, we need a clean

54:22bill of health health on making sure

54:25that the courts are doing everything

54:28possible to make ends meet with the

54:30money they have and the city's role is

54:32to supplement that, not to give them

54:34money we don't have while they're

54:36running surpluses.

54:37>> Yes, sir. I I appreciated the

54:38Councilmember Harris today asked the

54:40French Market Corporation some of the

54:42cash positions and I think just so

54:45everyone understands, this is not

54:47intended to be focused on any one

54:49elected official or one agency, but

54:51rather broadly agencies sit on cash and

54:55then ask us to write them checks and I

54:58think we are long past a position that

55:01we could do that. And so, I think it is

55:04fair to ask every agency to reassess

55:06their cash position to see what how they

55:09can be more efficient and also spend

55:11more of their own money before they come

55:13asking City Council and the mayor's

55:15office for money.

55:16>> Right. I mean, cuz essentially when you

55:17look at we heard from the criminal court

55:19judges

55:20a multitude of programming that they do

55:22that leads tangentially to that

55:24reduction in crime, these are

55:26priorities, they are things that we as a

55:28council want to support and

55:31we cannot bury the lead that part of the

55:34issue with the DA's office is that the

55:36governor reduced the number of warrants

55:38that the district attorney had. It

55:40created a deficit in his office. The

55:41district attorney working with the

55:42council, working with the AG, created a

55:45homicide unit and a sex sex crimes unit

55:48that now don't have the money to staff

55:50them.

55:51We are going to have different

55:53departments that affect in a positive

55:55way our reduction in crime.

55:58We need to have as many resources

55:59available to spread around to those

56:01agencies that have nowhere else to go.

56:04We need to make sure that every single

56:06partner

56:07We don't have the luxury of sitting on

56:10massive surpluses that Moody's and Fitch

56:13and them don't require us to have.

56:15Cuz to to to that end, the clerk's

56:17office isn't rated by rating agencies.

56:20The fresh market commission is not rated

56:22by rating agencies. We are. And part of

56:24the reason why we have that tremendous

56:27can't touch revenue uh

56:30revenue fund is because we're required

56:32to do so.

56:34If you're not required to do so, if

56:36you're collecting fees, and let's be

56:38clear, court fees are fees. They're

56:40meant to be reused for operations, not

56:43consolidated like Scrooge McDuck in a

56:45fund you could swim in. It's supposed to

56:47be money that is spent and reinvested

56:49into the agency to make it operate. And

56:52I am very uncomfortable dedicating any

56:54money to that agency as a whole until we

56:57make sure that those situations are

56:59exhausted. I would once again encourage

57:02the clerk to meet with the JES, to meet

57:05with the judges, and figure something

57:07out cooperatively and come to us with

57:11transparent books to show what you need

57:15after you've spent what you had. Because

57:18the mayor's priorities, though many of

57:20them line up with ours, they don't all

57:21do. And there's not enough money to go

57:22around.

57:24Thank you.

57:25>> Council member McCarran.

57:27Thank you, Madam Chair.

57:29This is helpful, obviously, today

57:31because I have my first town hall this

57:34afternoon and evening. So, what what the

57:36reason why I'm having town halls is to

57:38explain in a in a easy way for people to

57:42understand exactly what the cuts mean if

57:45we do not roll anything forward. And I

57:47just want to clarify here from this list

57:49that we have, the total here is $27.4

57:52million.

57:54>> That's right.

57:54>> So, essentially

57:57general fund impact from that millage

58:00if you want to go to page three.

58:02I just want to make it very clear and

58:04make sure I'm understanding correctly.

58:06So, this would give us around 21-ish

58:10million dollars, correct?

58:12>> That's right.

58:12>> Okay. So, essentially we are just barely

58:14covering these basic services if those

58:17are the only millages that we roll

58:18forward.

58:19>> That's right. And and thank you for

58:21bringing that up. I should have made

58:22that total more obvious, but this is

58:24more than even the restoration under a

58:27millage would look like. Look, at the

58:30end of the day as Council President

58:31Morrell noted, this isn't this is a

58:33conversation we're having with y'all and

58:35we want to make sure that you understood

58:37where we were coming from. And look,

58:38most of these are things that y'all have

58:40brought up in the past. I hope I

58:42mentioned everyone who did, but

58:43ultimately we know that again, we cannot

58:46fund

58:47even the things on this list with this

58:49roll forward, let alone other things on

58:52this list. So, it is a a tenuous

58:54position, but we did want to make sure

58:56that if there are new revenues, there

58:57are some things that we just think we

58:59cannot go without next year.

59:01And we don't want people to go without,

59:03our citizens to go without.

59:04>> Yeah, thank you. Just wanted that

59:06clarity.

59:06>> Sure.

59:08>> All right, I do have a couple comment

59:09cards. The first is from Morgan

59:11Clevenger and the second is from Bob

59:13Maynard. And just a reminder, you get 2

59:16minutes to speak.

59:23>> Good afternoon. Um, before we start the

59:25clock, I can we get a clarification from

59:28something Council member Morelle said

59:31about the amendment that's on the

59:33ballot?

59:35>> Morgan, why don't you

59:36>> Which amendment?

59:38>> It's

59:39the one that's on the ballot to be voted

59:40on.

59:42>> Oh, the charter amendment.

59:43>> Yeah. Yeah, can you

59:45clarify that again, please?

59:48Are you running my clock?

59:49>> Yeah.

59:50>> Yeah. We'll reset it, Morgan.

59:51>> Okay, thank you.

59:52>> It's very simply put, so

59:54um historically, when the Council and

59:57the Mayor pass a budget under the

59:59current charter,