This week you may have noticed that New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno and the clown-car politicians on the City Council have figured out a solution for the $220 million budget mess they’ve gotten themselves into.

Oh, don’t even try to object that this mess was inherited from Moreno’s predecessor LaToya Cantrell. Moreno spent many years in the City Council clown car before being put behind the wheel; she owns New Orleans’ fiscal crisis lock, stock and barrel.

What she doesn’t own is a solution that will work. Instead, Moreno is pushing a massive property tax hike that will almost certainly trash what’s left of the city’s economy…

New Orleans homeowners could soon pay hundreds more in property taxes.

The city has said it is considering a millage roll forward, which would add more than $42 million to its budget next year.

The Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office provided data Tuesday (Sept. 15), which shows the increase could mean paying hundreds of dollars more for those who own their home.

For a $300,000 home, for example, Orleans Parish Tax Assessor Erroll Williams said taxes would increase by more than $200 in the parish. For a $500,000 home, that would mean a nearly $400 increase, according to the assessor.

Williams said he based that calculation off of 7.57 mills, but he says the maximum the city could roll forward would be 8.33 mills, instead resulting in a $46.5 million addition to the budget. Williams said those millages include city departments, as well as Audubon and City parks and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans.

Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack said the city is planning a public hearing on the issue Oct. 29. The consideration comes after city leaders announced the city was facing a $220 million budget deficit late last year.

“If they don’t roll forward, there’ll be more pain,” Waguespack said Tuesday. “If they do roll forward, there’ll be less pain.”

Mayor Helena Moreno said Tuesday that no plan regarding the millage roll forward is set in stone.

“We just have a menu of different options,” she said. “We are going through a variety of different cuts… this will be a lean budget.”

Waguespack said not rolling millages forward could mean cuts to services.

And just like that, Helena Moreno’s political star fell into the ocean.

This is going to be a disaster. In fact, it already is. To wit…

Holly Friedman says she was fired from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office Thursday morning after posting about a possible Orleans Parish property tax increase on social media last week.

Friedman, who worked as the District Attorney’s director of litigation support, said human resources fired her, effective immediately, shortly after going into work. District Attorney Jason Williams’ office wouldn’t confirm Friedman’s firing, saying it doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

“(I) wasn’t expecting it,” Friedman, who ran for a New Orleans City Council seat last year, said in an interview Thursday. “I’ve never had any single anything in my employment (record).”

‘It needs to be transparent’

Friedman says she was fired after she posted to Facebook about a possible property tax increase in Orleans Parish last week. In the post, she raised transparency concerns, saying she found news about the possible millage roll forward on the second to last slide of a city presentation at its Revenue Estimating Conference meeting.

Friedman, who used to work in then-Councilman Joe Giarrusso’s office, spoke with Fox 8 earlier this week about those concerns.

“The city may be in a tight spot, and they may need to do a property tax increase, but I just feel that’s what you need to tell people,” Friedman said in an interview Monday. “It needs to be transparent.”

Now, Friedman says she believes she was fired out of retaliation for speaking out. Fox 8 asked the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office Thursday afternoon if Friedman was fired and whether it was related to her recent social media post or having spoken to the media. The District Attorney’s Office didn’t directly respond to those questions, providing only the following statement.

“The DA is conducting back-to-back murder trials and thus unavailable to provide a statement; however, OPDA does not comment on personnel matters.”

If you needed proof of how joined at the hip Jason Williams is with Helena Moreno and City Council president J.P. Morrell, this is about as good as you could ask for. Williams is firing ADA’s for posting about millage roll-forwards on Facebook? Really?

And why would this be a firable offense? Gosh, who can say?

Speaking of transparency and property taxes in New Orleans, there’s this…

1. A renovation doesn't take 4-5 years and a Million Dollar house isn't sold for $100. Why isn't the Mayor paying proper property tax? A million dollar house owned by the Mayor assessed at ZERO for two years or more while wanting to raise property tax?
Will whatever explanation… pic.twitter.com/FOu3DqAUz3

— Kristine Froeba (@Kristine_Froeba) September 17, 2026

That’s from New Orleans-based journalist Kristine Froeba, who did a deep dive into Helena Moreno’s rather sketchy property tax payment situation.

It’s simply mind-boggling how politicians like Moreno think they can rape the taxpayers with zero transparency and a proverbial glass house. It looks like she’s cheating on her property taxes and then she wants to raise them on regular folks? And anybody working in the system who wants to have a discussion about it gets fired?

Again, this stupid property tax hike plan would only raise $40 million and change out of a $220 million deficit. That’s assuming the folks hit worst by the increase, who are businesses, simply stand still and take it rather than vacating New Orleans for the Northshore or Jefferson Parish or Baton Rouge or the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There is still $180 million to go.

And when they start cutting overtime for the cops and the firefighters, New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has essentially said she’ll walk. Now – Kirkpatrick isn’t exactly Bill Bratton, but does anybody think Helena Moreno is capable of hiring a quality replacement? That will almost assuredly be another major mess.

We’ve been saying for months that fiscal administration by the state is the only real way out for New Orleans’ political clown car. That’s never been more obvious than right now.

The state can, and probably should, act to make it happen. Except it’s going to be messy. Here’s the breakdown of how fiscal administration happens for New Orleans, and why it might still be a ways off…

I have been following this one for a while. The city does not have to ask, nor consent and there does not have to be a bankruptcy case.

Under R.S. 39:1351, the Fiscal Review Committee (AG, Legislative Auditor, Treasurer) can act if they unanimously find the city is reasonably…

— CajunExile (@cajun_exile) September 17, 2026

Because this is long, we’ll quote the whole thing…

I have been following this one for a while. The city does not have to ask, nor consent and there does not have to be a bankruptcy case.

Under R.S. 39:1351, the Fiscal Review Committee (AG, Legislative Auditor, Treasurer) can act if they unanimously find the city is reasonably certain not to maintain “financial stability.” Act 96 of 2025 made that easier: any one of these 10 conditions is enough:

1. Not enough revenue to cover 12 months of operating costs (excluding civil judgments)

2. Missed a debt-service payment

3. Material fraud, misappropriation, or intentional misrepresentation in the books

4. Filing or keeping false/misleading public financial records

5. Audit that is not clean (qualified opinion, material weakness, significant deficiency, going-concern, etc.)

6. Violation or technical default on bond covenants

7. Recurring/significant use of one-time money for routine operations (cashing CDs, using loans meant for something else)

8. Failure to adopt a timely balanced budget, or repeated mid-year fixes that show a structural hole

9. Late payments to employee retirement or health plans

10. Late IRS or Louisiana payroll-tax payments

Also in the law

1. Can’t keep legally required services running (water, sewer, etc.) without emergency measures

2. Water/sewer emergency that forces the state to spend money to fix it

Any one of the 10 knocks the city out of “financial stability.” Service collapse and a water/sewer emergency are additional statutory grounds.

Process of the Fiscal Admin:

1. Fiscal Review Committee (AG, Legislative Auditor, Treasurer) meets publicly and reviews the city’s finances.

2. All three must unanimously find the city is reasonably certain not to maintain “financial stability,” including any one of the 10 statutory conditions.

3. Attorney General files a rule to show cause in Orleans Parish Civil District Court (court of the city’s domicile).

4. Hearing is set quickly: 10–20 days after filing, tried by preference.

5. If the city consents, AG and city file a joint motion and consent judgment in that same court within 45 days; the court appoints an administrator within 20 days.

6. If the city does not consent, the judge decides by preponderance of the evidence whether the legal conditions are met.

7. If the court finds they are met, it appoints a fiscal administrator recommended by the Legislative Auditor and AG.

8. Once appointed, the administrator directs fiscal operations; mayor and council stay in office and paid, but serve in an advisory role on money decisions.

9. Administrator reports to the court and state officials (initially, then at least quarterly) and prepares a plan to restore stability.

10. Administration ends only by court order—on the administrator’s request, or on motion if the court finds the city can again meet its obligations.

The was not writte where the city/parish govt are the identical political unit as in the case of Orleans Parish. An argument could be made that law should be amended in the case of unified parish/city goverment where “the district court of the domicile of the political subdivision” does not apply to prevent local shenanigans.

Examples of an Fiscal Administrtor being appointed:

Town of Jonesboro — July 24, 2012

Village of Clarence — 2019 (Fiscal Review Committee recommendation January 2019)

Town of Jeanerette — 2019

Town of St. Joseph — 2019

Town of Clayton — 2019

City of Bogalusa — May 2019 (first appointment); February 28, 2025 (second appointment)

Town of Sterlington — August 2019

Town of Cullen — Fiscal Review Committee approved early September 2026; court appointment was still pending at that time

We’re probably not at a point where Liz Murrill and John Fleming are going to agree to initiate the fiscal administration process for New Orleans yet. And getting this in front of a judge in New Orleans willing to tell the clown car the gig is up is going to be… challenging.

That said, the clown car isn’t going to make up that budget deficit, and there is a certain inevitability to the fiscal administration destination. It’s really just a question of when. This property tax hike is not the answer to Helena Moreno’s problems, which are only going to grow.