Verite: Loss of $120M in expected FEMA funding threatens city’s ability to pay bills, officials say
CBNO Executive Director Nellie Catzen was interviewed on the City’s 2025 budget crisis:
“For Nellie Catzen, the executive director for the Committee for a Better New Orleans, which runs a program to educate and involve residents in the city’s budgeting process, the latest iteration in the budget saga is yet another example of why more transparency into the city’s budget is necessary.
‘This would not have been a surprise to anyone if we all had the information that we need about public funding, public budgeting and where we are on a regular basis,’ Catzen told Verite News. ‘We have been demanding transparency for a long time. We have gotten very little from this administration around creating more visibility into spending, both for people outside City Hall and, importantly, for people inside City Hall.’
While she acknowledged that many of these budget stressors could not be entirely foreseen, Catzen also stressed that more transparency would have been critical in mitigating the impact of those stressors. And crucially, in her opinion, there wouldn’t be continuing, new revelations about the extent of the deficit had there been regular reporting on city spending. “
Also picked up by: WXXV Fox News
