City Finance
Municipal finance fuels local government. Strong financial policies and practices provide the framework for the City’s short and long-term success. They are imperative to New Orleans’ position as a competitive first-tier tourist destination, major regional healthcare hub, and emerging technology and start-up environment. Business Council members understand that containing costs and increasing operational efficiencies are critical to maintaining essential public services, and to meeting taxpayers’ expectations in the delivery of those services.
For more than three decades, the Business Council has worked with elected officials, department heads and staff to establish or improve systems for accounting, budgeting and long-range financial planning, asset management, debt management, revenue forecasting and taxation.
The Business Council-led resolution of the long-running dispute between the City and its firefighters over the management and solvency of the New Orleans Firefighters Pension & Relief Fund is among the most heralded of the Business Council’s work to strengthen the City’s fiscal health. The settlement is projected to provide cost savings of $275 million over 30 years. Moody’s Investors Service called the deal “a credit positive for the city.” A 2015 two-grade increase in the City’s bond rating by Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency, from A- to A+ is also directly attributable to the deal.
As the City strives to maintain its fiscal health and integrity, the Business Council will continue to ensure that proposed financial reforms and policies are framed by the core principles of good governance: efficiency, accountability, and transparency.
