Let’s confront an uncomfortable question: Is the cost of living in New Orleans worth the benefit of living here?
For many, we know the answer. It’s no. That’s why we have a population crisis.
Living in a city comes with a pricetag. But the added tax is supposed to provide a return on investment. That ROI could come by way of transportation, public works, sanitation, schools, parks & rec, or law enforcement. Through these departments and services, municipal government is supposed to make life easier.
But any resident of New Orleans will tell you that the city’s end of the bargain is rarely upheld. Why?
I posit that the city of New Orleans has a revenue problem, and it's crippling our ability to maintain proper services. However, as serious as this is, to my knowledge, not a single candidate running for mayor has spoken out on it.
Let’s take a look at trash collection, just as one example.
In 2025, we face a $34 million deficit in trash collection alone. In other words, the amount in fees on your water bill for trash collection, minus the amount it costs us to pick it up, is $34 million in the red. And it’s not just this year.
In ‘24, we had around $20 million deficit. In ‘23 it was a million less than ‘24. In ‘22, a near $10 million deficit, and in ‘21, about 1 million. All in all, in the past five years, it’s close to $70 million.
Whatever the reason, maybe we’re charging too little in fees or contracts are too high, we know that we need to offset the difference. That’s where the revenue problem comes in, because we don't just have an issue with hemorrhaging money; we have issues in collecting it.
As we know, to pay for its services, the city collects taxes through three main avenues: service fees, sales tax, and property tax. Combined, these are how a city gathers the bread to fund the services it owes its residents.
Property taxes are routinely assessed by an independent third party. Fees are fixed amounts, deducted automatically. Sales taxes, however, are quantified on what’s basically an honor system. Businesses self-report revenue and remit taxes owed.
So, where lies the breakdown? I’m of the opinion that it lies in sales taxes.
As someone who's played the role of tax collector, I’m certain that New Orleans is not doing a good job of collecting what it's owed. And that cost is being passed onto the taxpayers who don’t have the option to self-report, and the businesses that deal with taxes honestly.
Think about it. In the last 8 years, when was the last time you heard any official talk about audits? You haven’t.
I get that the thought of tax audits causes the hackles to go up. But I’m not advocating for raising taxes; all I’m advocating for is that the city do more to ensure businesses play by the rules.
We are New Orleans. New wallets travel into this city every day, and we must capitalize on that for all our sake, but it’s the city’s job to ensure we all benefit from tourism booms.
As things stand, we have no way of knowing how much money is going into the register. I’ve asked several council members whether they get a report on monthly sales tax collection; they all say no.
And when I’m out. I do my own field research on the subject. I’ll pay cash just to watch what happens. Consistently, I’ll see folks ring a $0.00 sale. They are collecting the money, but don’t remit the tax. And the city loses out on between 3-7% of each of those sales.
It wouldn’t be hard to crack down on it. Just send out auditors to businesses that operate largely in cash, and begin the processes of flagging those that deal from the bottom of the deck. If I were in charge, I’d have a sales tax auditor for every street in the French Quarter.
These are easy things to implement, but unpopular measures to communicate during campaigns. And like I said, I haven’t heard a peep from candidates about how we plan to address our revenue problem.
It’s not just taxes, either. We could talk about the need for right-sizing departments. We could talk about the fact that our city government has far more employees than similarly-sized cities, or that there are clear redundancies in law enforcement by operating across 8 police districts.
All of these are pressing issues that must be corrected if we’re to get back on track. But we never hear about it, and it’s time to start firing these questions off and listening to how our candidates respond.
As much as it may be uncomfortable, we have to confront the reality that residents are constantly questioning whether it's worth the cost to live here.
A lot of this isn't the city's fault. Yes, the costs of home ownership and weather risks are separate and very pressing factors. But these are issues local government must be aware of and try to mitigate by doing its job better. That means a scrupulous, unrelenting pursuit toward efficiency. That’s how people become convinced that there’s value to living in this beautiful city. That’s what's needed to keep this town a home, not just a tourist destination.