PreK New Orleans Municipal Government operated on about $600 million per year. (shown above). PostK, with half the people, it looks like $700 million won't quite be enough.

The Louisiana State Constitution specifies how the parishes in the state are to be governed. It contains provisions for criminal justice, education, property assessment, levee districts and provides for incorporation of cities. Since 1870 the city of New Orleans has been coterminus with the Parish of Orleans. The city charter provides for city services and the taxes and fees used to pay for those services.

Since the storm, the budget has been squeezed. PreK General Fund revenue was $486 of the $600 million total. The $114 million difference being the state and federal grants shown in dark green in the diagram above. General fund revenue in 2006 was $365 million. In October 2006 the city's revenue forecast for 2007 included $405 million. However this forecast includes $70 million of one time windfalls including loans from the federal government. So revenue from traditional sources is expected to be $335 million or about 70% of preK income.

When you comapre the revenue to the expeditures concern must grow. The garbage contract for 2007 is a case in point.

City (covered under the City Charter and under control of the Mayor)
Police (under fire for scandals, desertions and returning crime)
Fire (holds $127 million judgement agains the city for unpaid back wages)
Medical (???)
Finance - Taxation, Money, Property (but not the Property Tax Assessors)
Housing (HANO taken over by HUD for ineffectiveness)
Garbage (contacted to Waste Managment chargin as much post-K for once a week as pre-K for twice a week pickup)
Sewerage and Water Board - operating under consent decree because of decrepit state of 300 year old sewer lines in parts of the city)
Recreation (NORD shut down post-K)
Parks
Safety and Permits (streamlined computerized processes, master electricians allowed to conduct inspections with homeowner permission)
Public Works - Streets and Traffic (street lights still out, wrecked cars not towed after 8 months)
Mosquito Control (offering to put fish in abandoned swimming pools)
Zoning (ignored an overridden by City Council when powerful constituents affected)
Public Belt Railroad (part of the port)
Library (half of the branches opened, excellent Nutrias website and onlline catalog service)

Parish (chartered by the State by the Constitution and legislation)
Public Schools (elected board)
Levee Board (state appointed)
Courts & Judges & Clerk (elected)
District Attorney (elected)
Jails and Sheriff (elected)
Assesors (elected)

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It's a little disconcerting to see those 200 yellow school buses flooded in New Orleans East in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Understanding the fragmented nature of the area's government can help understand why the city was able to use RTA buses to move people from checkpoints around the city to the Superdome but was unable to use the school buses to get people all the way out of town.

Maybe next time there will be enough buses in the evacuation plan. 200 buses carrying 30 people each would have been enough to move the 20,000 people who showed up at the dome on the day before the storm. Each one would have had to make three trips out of town to some place like Baton Rouge.  Then the buses could have returned to pickup up additional evacuees after the flooding began. Of course this takes some planning because you have to have a place to take the 20,000 or so people you evacuate, a place outside the city under someone else's control.