The New Orleans Council has rolled forward property tax resulting in tax increases for the citizens and businesses in the city.That was something that we all expected, but it is only a bandage over a melanoma that is our budget built on a very weak foundation in a time of economiccontraction. I applaud the work done to date to stave off fiscal collapse, but that work cannot be looked upon as the end game.

Citizens have serious questions that get to the heart of the fiscal mess we call home, especially in the long term. Trust in government will only be assured when we believe that government is operating on the principles of efficiency and efficacy. As an aside if we ever expect to see growth and opportunities adopting these principles is crucial.

I served for many years on the Senate Finance Committee, so based upon that experience when considering the obstacles to efficiency and efficacy the following questions come to mind.

• The recent tax and fee increases clearly are just to maintain the status quo. How much of the budget is based on one-time money or debt? What is the plan to replace one-time funds with recurring funds? What is the plan to reduce debt? What additional taxes or fees are being contemplated (we already expect fee increases for the SWB, but else?).
• In addition to further revenue measures, do we also expect further reduction in city services? If reductions are anticipated will they only come from areas other than fundemental city services or will it become clear that any changes are targeted to hold onto business as usual?
• What if any government restructuring avenues are under consideration? Will they be based upon best practices, not the status quo or politicaly favored priorities? Will city government lead in reform, or will it succumb to political or other special interests?
• What must be done in order to reduce the impact of pension obligations, perhaps by changing the retirement age or vesting period, by moving new hires to a defined contribution system, and so forth.
• How can we reform or eliminate the inefficiencies inherent in civil service.
• What savings would come from dropping costly programs such as recycling and all the green initiatives that have long term cost implications to the city but offer questionable improvements to citizen’s lives. What efforts could be developed by increasing use of outsourced services, and so on.

Overhaul the city charter so that it is narrowly focused on efficiency and efficacy.

• Rewrite ordinances to reduce bureaucracy by eliminating policies that result in higher costs or a loss of eligibility for consideration by businesses that could grow or move here.
• Enforcing contracts, hold experts and other professionals that do bad work or fail to deliver in accordance with contracts responsible, pay contractors promptly. Centralize a powerful office of contract management and empower it to do the job across all agencies.
• Greatly increase revenue by working with the legislature to revise who is entitled be excluded from the tax base.
• Work with state government in order to eliminate state statutes and constitutional articles that hamper operations of city government and businesses that make the city unattractive to economic growth. Work with state to reform civil justice laws that hinder growth.
• Work with surrounding parishes to create economies of scale that benefit all citizens.
• Exploring the possibility of moving to a city manager or other operating structure.

I am sure there is much more and nothing should be off the table. We are not operating anywhere near a city in which efficiency and efficacy are the goals, but I recognize that serious reform would be met by a political firestorm.

One other thing, our city government is hampered by untold numbers of special interests and political players that have twisted city government to benefit themselves or their business or NGO. As a basis for reform our leaders must examine each program or policy from the perspective of what is the need and does the approach adopted benefit the majority of citizens for the best cost.

The city can’t grow when it can’t fund itself or have resources to maintain infrastructure. Our future as a continuing entity is hinged on the mayor and council not being satisfied with only fixing the near-term financial crisis, but also on admitting that we have a deep, fundemental fiscal problem that they are willing to tackle. It may take political courage, but their objective must be to restucture city philosophy and policies so that we become a model of efficiency and efficacy as defined in the 21st century.