Official: Budget Running On Empty
by Bruce Eggler - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

If the New Orleans City Council goes ahead with its latest plan for revising the city's 2009 budget, the city will be unable to replace aging police cars and other emergency vehicles, and it will run out of fuel for all vehicles by midyear, the city's top budget official said Friday.

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Cary Grant also said the council's announced intention to hold 25 percent of the money for the Sanitation Department "in reserve" means the city cannot yet authorize SDT Waste & Debris to perform enhanced French Quarter services such as street sweeping and flushing, even though the council has said it wants the services to continue.

In addition, because the council doesn't plan to complete action on the revised budget until Jan. 8, the city will be unable to sign contracts or leases that normally would be renewed by early January, Grant said. "This was so haphazardly done that I don't know where I'm going," said Grant, who oversees all budget matters for the city.

In voting 6-1 Wednesday to override Mayor Ray Nagin's veto of the budget it had passed Dec. 1, the council said it intends to make further changes to the spending plan at its first 2009 meeting.