Parents, Students To Protest Thursday on City Hall Steps
Concerned teachers, parents, students and their allies who are frustrated by the Cantrell administration’s ongoing refusal to make good on millions in payments owed to the Orleans Parish Public Schools will rally on the steps of City Hall Thursday, March 6 at 9 a.m. According to organizer Erin Canfield, an elementary school teacher at Bricolage Academy, the purpose of the rally is for citizens to hear directly from those who are being negatively impacted because of what the city finance department officials describe as “a cash flow” problem.
“We want everyone to understand how the city’s withholding of funds agreed upon as part of the cooperative endeavor agreement is hurting the families who depend on New Orleans’ public schools,” said Canfield. Ultimately, rally organizers want Mayor Cantrell to sign the cooperative endeavor agreement. “She alone has the power to solve this problem,” Canfield continued. United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) and 13 other organizations are also co-sponsoring the event.
In a meeting of the City Council last month, Cantrell representatives provided a somewhat suspect list of account receivables not collected but also admitted that all the city’s bills were being paid. Councilmembers were skeptical that the city’s suggested financial crisis was real. The Council has joined in a lawsuit with the Orleans Parish schools to demand the funds. Unless the courts rule against Cantrell, the administration could continue to hide behind their cash flow myth. Cantrell says she never signed personally off on the settlement.
Some believe it would be easier for the City of New Orleans to honor its legal obligation to the schools if the responsible departments did a better job of identifying and collecting funds owed. Having adequate personnel to collect current funds due is not the problem. What is lacking is the political will to bill individuals or businesses for what is owed and force them – by whatever means necessary – to actually pay their debt.
For example, at that same February presentation to the Council, city finance officials admitted that approximately $14 million in revenue was outstanding from uncollected traffic camera tickets. In addition, there are many other pockets of money ripe for the picking.
Uber- everyone’s favorite ride-sharing app – owes the city up to $35 million for approximately 800 citations of unadjudicated/unpaid fines dating from 2017-2019. The fines were issued to Uber drivers for violations of the city code. Many of Uber’s automobiles did not meet the basic requirements to operate as for-hire vehicles, requirements that are much more lenient for Uber than for operators of traditional taxicabs.
In March 2024 Councilmember Joe Giarrusso told NOLA.com reporter John Simerman that he hoped to soon discuss the Uber violations in an executive council session and review the violations and the validity of any fines. Giarrusso also told Simerman that he had inquired about the fines and the city’s ability to recover them but had not heard back from Cantrell’s team. During the twelve months that have passed since his NOLA.com interview, Giarrusso never publicly indicated he really pushed Cantrell for a response, nor did a discussion of the Uber fines ever appear on an executive session agenda. Council President J.P. Morrell recently questioned city finance officials about the status of Uber’s unresolved payments but got no commitment.
Another source of income could come from funds generated through more fines on blighted and abandoned buildings. Joe Jaeger – whose ownership of the 45-story Plaza Tower passed to his heirs after his death last year – had racked up almost a dozen code violations since 2021. The building was abandoned in 2002 and has been deteriorating ever since. Together with all the penalties Jaeger could have been on the hook for $1,003,750, according to an August 2023 report by WWL-TV. The following month, Jaeger was fined $220,000 for falling debris. Instead of those fines generating a big pay day for the city from Jaeger’s estate, city leaders are now considering a $28 million demolition of the building.
The Plaza Tower probably isn’t the only blighted or abandoned building from which the city does not receive the revenue it deserves. Public data is not available that could serve as a basis for calculating daily fines on other blighted properties. Yet that information is available to City staff, the Cantrell administration and the City Council. New Orleans’ next mayor could generate additional income from these properties by prioritizing the collection of fines from derelict property owners. Providing data access to concerned citizens and neighborhood organizations will increase public pressure on these property owners.
It also would be fair to say that the Cantrell administration has consistently failed to maximize revenue from short term rentals (STRs). The city’s data site lists 4,052 active STR licenses. Yet a study last year found that there were at least 6,274 STRs (both legal and illegal) operating in Orleans Parish. The numbers that were floating around since the pandemic have always been reported between 2,000 and 2,400 illegal STRs. The permitting fee ranges from $200 to $1000 depending on the type of STR being utilized with the average fee of $500. Plus there is a separate operator’s license and an application fee as well. Individuals knowledgeable about the STR market in New Orleans estimate that the city might be failing to collect between $500,000 and $2 million annually just in licensing fees.
The city does not have a good reputation for renewing STR licenses in a timely fashion, holding hearings quickly after complaints are filed, or issuing fines to thousands of unlicensed operators who have been gaming the system for years. One way STR revenue could easily increase is if the city notified licensed operators regarding permit renewal 90 days prior to expiration. Under the current system, licensed operators might conveniently “forget” to apply for renewal each year or only pay the fee for one unit in a multi-unit building. Perhaps better enforcement and more revenue will come when current litigation concludes and all the new STR rules are firmly in place.
The One Stop is another city agency where select applicants sometimes slide by without paying all the fees associated with their projects. A search this week of the One Stop App indicates there is a total of $2.333,091.12 in unpaid fees ranging from $1 to $188,408. In addition, a total of $832,536 is owed on 1,362 business permit filings.
The largest amount due is for permit 20-33437-RNVS which is a large commercial renovation project at 1010 Common Street under the same developers as the Hard Rock construction which collapsed. The permit was re-applied for under 24-28945-RNVS; and was issued without the former storm water fees paid. Staff are required to check previous fees or unfinished permits at addresses when reviewing new applications. This is not enforced across the board.
The Five O Fore golf complex is thought to be another example of developers being allowed to continue working without paying for every permit issued. Five O Fore might owe as much as $100,000, according to one source. A professional audit would uncover additional instances of this type of cover-up.
According to Assessor Erroll Williams, there are 10,344 parcels in Orleans Parish exempt from property taxes. Those exempt parcels are owned by government agencies or quasi-government organizations like the Industrial Development Board, churches, schools, colleges and universities and other non-profits. Williams is currently in litigation with a non-profit owned by a subsidiary of the National World War II Museum regarding the Higgins Hotel & Conference Center. Williams challenged the tax-exempt status the hotel has claimed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes are at stake. Williams has long been vocal on the need to increase the number of taxable parcels.
New Orleans’ public schools are steering toward a real crisis. The school system and the families that rely upon it desperately need the money the city promised in the 2025 budget which Mayor Cantrell signed. If -as the Cantrell administration has repeatedly alleged – a cash flow problem exists, do our elected officials have the political will to aggressively push for increased collection of taxes, fines and fees from traffic camera tickets, Uber citations, short term rentals, code violations, building permits and currently exempt properties? The Council has the legal right to fire high ranking Cantrell staff but has only used that power once. Is it time to make additional changes in some city departments?
In the short term, the public schools still need millions from the city to balance their books. It might be easiest to generate new funds from Uber’s alleged citations while strategies are developed to tackle the other areas. Either way, the city has a moral obligation to follow through on the settlement agreement with NOLA-PS. As a sign of good faith, the city should also forgo the 2% collection fee currently sought from the schools. After all, New Orleans’ children deserve a fully funded educational system to prepare them to succeed in life.
