Editorial: Helena Moreno is approaching New Orleans’ sanitation shortfall the right way

By Staff Editorial

Source: The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com

March 19, 2026

Of all the things Helena Moreno hoped to do when she was running for mayor of New Orleans, raising the sanitation fee was not on her list.

Yet as Moreno continues to work her way through a trial-by-fire of a first year, she announced last week that she’d ask the City Council to raise the $24 monthly charge residents now pay via their water bills.

We give her credit for playing it straight with residents about the extreme financial shortfalls the city faces — and also for looking under every rock for ways to minimize the pain for those who are already feeling pinched.

We know many residents still pine for a return to the twice-weekly pickup the city provided before Hurricane Ida struck in 2021. Yet even once a week, the cost now far exceeds the amount collected for sanitation.

The current $24 million difference comes out of the city’s general fund, which is already under enormous pressure; Moreno warns that if the fee isn’t increased, it could lead to cuts in other vital city functions such as public safety.

That’s one good argument in favor of raising the fee. Another is that it has not gone up since 2011. Moreno proposes that future fees rise as costs do, so that no other mayor has to look at as steep a hike. There’s also the basic principle of sound budgeting that calls for fees to fully cover the services they are meant to fund.

That said, we were glad to see Moreno pause her request until Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack’s office can perform an audit to ensure that the city only pays to pick up trash from eligible properties. Moreno has also talked about renegotiating the collection fee that the city pays the Sewerage & Water Board. Both moves will hopefully translate into a smaller increase.

The cost of trash pickup, of course, is just one piece of a much larger challenge Moreno faces, not just at City Hall but at the water board, which the mayor leads as its designated president and which has seen multiple water main breaks during Moreno’s first months in office.

That’s a lot to face all at once, but at this point, Moreno still has plenty of goodwill.

A good way to keep it is to keep doing what she’s doing: make a case that sacrifices are fair and necessary, focus on making systemic fixes that can get the city out of this cycle of dysfunction — and most of all, keep the financial burden on residents top of mind.

It certainly is top of mind for the people who elected her.

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