New Orleans council votes on budget, tax rates today

The New Orleans City Council today votes on a budget that includes some changes to tax rates, to adjust for recent property re-appraisals, and the city has a balancing act to pull off.

"What the council's going to do is adjust the millage rate for various tax recipient agencies and dedicated millages so the rollback remains exactly where it is for the total amount that the city controls," said political analyst Clancy DuBos.

The public just had a chance to say what they think about taxes -- defeating a proposed millage increase on Saturday's ballot. DuBos says he thinks some voters may have had today's budget votes in the backs of their minds.
   
"And they just said 'enough is enough' because they didn't know what the council is going to do," he explained.

While the council is expected to keep rates more or less revenue neutral, some New Orleans property owners are still likely to pay higher property taxes -- the city's other major taxing body, the school board, rolled its millages forward to its current level.

The council meets this morning at 10:00 a.m. at New Orleans City Hall.