Layoffs, reduced services, and no funding for Mardi Gras or special event cleanup has been outlined as the reality for the New Orleans Department of Sanitation’s spending plan for 2027.
Matt Torri, the director of sanitation, proposed a $6.064 million budget reduction, which included reducing staff from 73 to 18 and reducing workdays from seven to five.
“On the operational side, those layoffs would include 32 laborers. Those are the men and women who are on the ground removing litter, emptying public litter cans, riding on the back of garbage trucks, emptying public litter cans, doing graffiti remediation, pressure washing, cleaning homeless encampments, delivering recycling cans to households. It would also include 15 equipment operators,” said Torri.
“So, these are the sanitation employees who are operating our heavy equipment. So, they’re removing illegal dumping waste hired from the public right-of-away, operating mechanical street sweepers and washers to clean roadways and bridges.”
That proposal was met with major pushback from council leaders like Jason Hughes, who pledged to work with fellow councilmembers on an alternative to the firings.
“I appreciate that this was a first stab from the administration. That’s how the process works. But the elimination of the employees, layoffs, telling them Merry Christmas by laying them off is a nonstarter for me,” said Hughes.
The presentation comes as New Orleanians were just hit with an increase in sanitation fees. Households started paying $8.25 more a month starting this October, with businesses shelling out $16.50 more.
Torri said that curbside collection services will not be impacted by the budget cuts, and that the department is still striving for excellence.
However, the potential reductions in staff and service hours could have a trickle-down effect.
For instance, Torri said all homeless encampment cleanup could be impacted as well as the ability to respond to calls for service.
“Look, I play basketball at various courts in the greater Gentilly area,” said Council Vice President Matthew Willard. “And some days I go there and the trash is already overflowing. So, if we make it worse on that front, it will be like a Hurricane Ida, COVID situation where trash is just overflowing. And that is dangerous because we have our youth playing there, and you’re going to have all type of rodents.”
A big point of contention was the lack of Mardi Gras cleanup funding in the proposal, something that drew stark reactions from all councilmembers.
CAO Joe Giarrusso said after reviewing the numbers again, New Orleans stands to lose $4 million on Mardi Gras.
“So, folks that are descending upon the city for Mardi Gras that are reaping all the benefits, we’re going to have to figure out how they put more skin in the game, because it’s just unsustainable to have this big free party and we run a $4 million, $5 million deficit,” said Hughes.
“I mean, can we even have Mardi Gras without the cleanup effort? I mean, how could you even parade if we’re not picking up after that?” said Willard.
Council President JP Morrell also urged the department to be more aggressive in collecting the abatement fee for larger businesses that do not use the city’s sanitation system. It was just increased from $100 to $125 annually.
“That fee can be used by sanitation and is used by 20 different things, like picking up those trash cans across the city.” said Morrell.”
“I believe that fee is supposed to generate over $1 million. So, let’s look at that fee again. It’s not going to solve your problem, but it’s another way to kind of eat away at the, you know, eat the elephant one bite at a time,” said Morrell.
Torri also pointed to the legislative audit that will help to identify properties that are listed twice on the city’s sanitation rolls, or those that don’t need to be serviced. He said once that report is out, the department could identify further reductions.
He also said another possible solution was to have other city departments pick up some of the slack.
“Using resources from other departments would be the only resources we have to support to backfill those positions that were lost to provide those critical essential services,” said Torri. “So, we would need to explore every available avenue that’s available to us. If we were to lose these critical resources.”
“We know departments are getting cut, across the board, experiencing cuts across the board. So, I’m skeptical that they’ll be able to step in and do some of this work,” said Willard.
READ MORE:New Orleans Sanitation Department’s bleak budget includes possible layoffs, no Mardi Gras cleanup
