http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-799478.mp3
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is reviewing the budget approved after a 12-hour City Council session. Whether he signs it isn't clear. The mayor wanted a tax increase to fill a $24 million budget shortfall. The council instead plugged much of the deficit with the city's disaster loans. Nagin calls the tactic a "financial train wreck."
The council has control of about half the $1.1 billion budget. Federal and state grants make up the rest.
Departments getting more money from the council include the District Attorney and Public Defender. Those getting less would be the Criminal Sheriff's Office and the emergency reserve fund.
Nagin has a little more than a week to review the council's budget plan before he signs it, vetoes it, or lets it become law without his signature.
