New Orleans ends furloughs for first responders
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell says the furloughs -- unpaid time off for city workers to help balance the city's books -- are over for first responders.
"We are lifting the furlough requirements from our public safety and public health first responders at the New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans EMS, and the New Orleans Health Department," Cantrell announced Monday afternoon. She also said the furloughs are done for staff at the city's juvenile detention center.
The mayor's Chief Administrative Officer, Gilbert Montaño, says they haven't realized any new revenue or sudden financial windfalls, but pledged to make it work.
"What we are hopeful for is the future horizon of the stimulus funding and the projections that the vaccines can provide an alternative to some of the decisions people are making as it relates to sales tax spending and the like."
Montaño said the city will have to reevaluate its situation later in the year.
The city took a major hit to its revenue when the pandemic shut down tourism, and the tax money the city collects from tourist-related spending.
