Mayor Latoya Cantrell appeared before the city council yesterday to present her proposed 2023 operating budget.
As the city suffers through a violent crime problem, Cantrell said her proposed budget makes public safety and other quality of life issues high priorities. Cantrell said her budget reinvests in public safety, neighborhoods, the workforce and economic development, while making city government more agile as well as more efficient and effective.
The proposed operating budget amounts to $1.5 billion. But NOPD’s budget is cut from $176 million to around $155 million for next year because the department has routinely spent less than it received as it continues to struggle to hire more officers.
The administration maintains that the budget will be fluid and quarterly adjustments will be made to city agency budgets.
Cantrell says the budget involves a three-year plan related to one-time funds the city is receiving from the American Rescue Plan where they will spend $37 million on police recruitment and retention.
