As the city evaluates the escalating public safety, infrastructure, and sanitation costs required to stage Carnival season, local leaders are reconsidering how the world-famous celebration is funded. City of New Orleans Deputy Mayor & Chief of Staff Kevin Ferguson joins Newell to discuss how officials are exploring new revenue measures, including a proposed fee structure for parade floats, to help offset municipal expenses that currently outpace tax collections by millions. Proponents argue that shifting a small portion of the operational burden onto social organizations is necessary to ensure essential services remain funded, while critics warn that taxing float participation threatens to penalize the very krewes that finance New Orleans' most iconic public tradition.
