NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — In New Orleans, Mayor Cantrell’s administration warns that four critical city departments are about to lose $24 million in funding.
Those departments are:
- City Planning Commission
- Safety and Permits
- Public Works
- Department of Law
City Chief Administrator Gilbert Montaño blames the city council for cutting funding that he believes will lead to a hiring freeze.
“Because we had to cut such a significant amount of funding from these agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve never allowed them to hire at full throttle,” Montaño explained. “Now when they are absolute to their bone and we’ve spent the last two years asking them to do less with more, now we’re asking them again to do less with more and that’s problematic.”
With hurricane season just a few months away, Montaño adds he’s worried about the city not having enough funding to prepare.