Residents’ Guide to The City Budget
If you care about potholes, safety, flooding, or housing, you care about the budget.
Who makes the budget?
How is the budget developed?
How big is the budget?
*Figures from the 2025 Proposed City of New Orleans Operating Budget Book
The City of New Orleans General Operating Budget is about
$1.78 billion
It’s sorted into two buckets:
The City raises this money. More than half comes from taxes, and the rest is from fines & fees. Money in this fund is discretionary, meaning the city can mostly use it how they want.
The General Fund
The “Other” Fund
This money is from other sources, like the State and Federal Government, millages, and grants. Money in this fund is restricted to a very specific use, like building affordable housing or public libraries.
REVENUES
where does the money come from?
Here’s a breakdown of revenues from the City’s 2025 Proposed Budget:
click to zoom!
EXPENSES
where does the money go?
What’s NOT in the City’s Budget
New Orleans has a lot of public agencies, and this decentralized model makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the budget for public services. Some of the key public services residents rely on are not part of the City’s Budget.
Schools - School budgets are managed by charter management orgs. Pre-pandemic funding was about $650M from state, federal and other sources. (BGR 2020)
Transit - Transit budget is managed by the RTA. While they can receive funds from the City, most of their $137M operating budget comes from other sources.
Drainage - Drainage is mostly a function of S&WB, whose Operating Budget totaled $351M last year.
HOW TO
INFLUENCE THE BUDGET
Share your priorities
The City’s money is your money. As a resident, it’s your responsibility to tell your council member what you need! Fill out our survey below to help us compile the People’s Budget, and reach out to your council member to share your priorities before the budget is passed.