Budget Finance Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Budget Finance - Research Paper Example The author of the essay "Municipal Budget" makes the deep analysis of New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans Louisiana is a relatively small city, although the largest in the state, with a rank of only forty-six in terms of the United States’ most populous cities. It encompasses five districts with one city council person each and two at large councilmen with the current mayor being Mitch Landrieu. The budget then encompasses some 565 pages and is pretty much detailed and informative, with graphs and comparisons to similar sized cities such as Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia. It tells where revenues come from, what money is spent and where, whether there is going to be a surplus (yes with a 2011 surplus of $500K), and whether there are to be any cuts in city services. The budget also addresses two other difficult areas. One is the situation faced by municipalities all over the country, that of the nationwide recession begun in 2007-08 and continuing today. New Orleans has its share of unemployment woes; at 8.3% it is slightly higher than the national average. With the unemployment comes hundreds of foreclosures and other abandoned buildings. Added to that is the fact the city is still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which only adds to the blighted structures and a good portion of the city’s budget is devoted to placing liens and demolishing these b uildings. So yes, the current budget does give a very adequate overview of New Orleans’ financial position.... The budget then encompasses some 565 pages and is pretty much detailed and informative, with graphs and comparisons to similar sized cities such as Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia. It tells where revenues come from, what money is spent and where, whether there is going to be a surplus (yes with a 2011 surplus of $500K), and whether there are to be any cuts in city services. The budget also addresses two other difficult areas. One is the situation faced by municipalities all over the country, that of the nationwide recession begun in 2007-08 and continuing today. New Orleans has its share of unemployment woes; at 8.3% it is slightly higher than the national average. With the unemployment comes hundreds of foreclosures and other abandoned buildings. Added to that is the fact the city is still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which only adds to the blighted structures and a good portion of the city’s budget is devoted to placing liens and demolishing these b uildings. So yes, the current budget does give a very adequate overview of New Orleans’ financial position. By far and away, the biggest expenditures from New Orleans’ budget are public safety, fire, police, and other emergency services. For the 2012 budget, when taken from the Adopted General Fund Expenditures public safety accounts for over half of that budget, sixty per cent. Even when considered as part of the entire budget (general and non-general, public safety still accounts for thirty five per cent. Of the divisions within that department, the police have the biggest slice, budgeted for 2012 at almost $119 million, an increase of nine per cent over 2011.