FAQ

A law, issue or topic put on a state or local ballot for citizens to decide. Typically, ballot measures include recalls, referendums or initiatives.

This Ballot Measure will allocate 2% of the city budget to a Housing Trust Fund to be used exclusively to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing in New Orleans.

2% of the annual budget, roughly 17 million dollars per year, beginning in 2026

NO. There will be NO increase in taxes. Voting YES for this ballot measure simply means 2% of the City’s General Fund, made up of local taxes and other revenues, would be dedicated towards housing.

We have identified three purposes:

1. The creation of affordable rental housing
2. Preservation of affordable rental housing
3. Creation and preservation of affordable homeownership opportunities

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and Finance New Orleans will partner to administer the funds, through a contract with the City. A City Council Advisory Committee will decide, with Council approval, how to divide annual funds between the three purposes, based on residents’ needs. However, a minimum amount (15% of program funds) will always be invested into each of the three purposes every year. The Council Advisory Committee will be composed of appointees of the Mayor’s Office, the City Council, the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, with at least one member who has lived experience being unhoused or living in affordable housing. This Advisory Committee, NORA, and FNO must annually present their proposed allocation to the Council, which will approve or modify the allocation based on local market conditions and residents’ highest needs.

While those most in need of assistance – low and moderate income families, seniors on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, and people facing homelessness will be especially targeted for help through the Housing Trust Fund, ANY NEW ORLEANIAN affected by the insurance crisis will benefit – including homeowners, renters, and landlords. The impact of the Housing Trust Fund will benefit every resident of New Orleans by addressing housing conditions that affect us all.

• Because the HTF will lead to more housing stock and decreased housing costs, residents will have more money to spend on household necessities like food, education and healthcare – creating a positive impact on our local economy. Specifically, the HTF will:
• Help homeowners keep their properties, stabilizing and strengthening neighborhoods with long-term residents and local businesses like grocery stores.
• Create more available jobs in the near-term and attract regional and national investment and jobs in years to come.
• Grow the population, retain and attract young families, increase tax revenue to improve city services.

The city has no dedicated local funding invested in housing. This will be the first time we are making a targeted and sustained investment in housing our residents, which we know will help thousands of homeowners, small landlords, and renters. Current federal funds don’t have the flexibility to address our current needs, like the insurance crisis. HTF will provide that opportunity. Additionally, the fact that the city will be obligated to make an annual investment in housing, means we will attract even more dollars from state and federal government, nonprofits, and other funders. This is exactly what has happened in other cities. Residents deserve these resources, and we also need the HTF to be well managed with transparent results. The HTF laws in City Code will require a strategic plan, transparent oversight, and public accountability, with results updated at least four times a year and regular public meetings of the Advisory Committee. As we await passage of the HTF, which will take effect in 2026, the Council has made an initial investment of $49 million in 2024 toward affordable housing. $32 million of that is funding the creation of affordable housing developments, bringing hundreds of new units online, being managed through the city. The Council allocated another $17 million to serve as a pilot for the HTF. From this work, we know how much of an impact the HTF will have.

• $17 million would help 1,100 residents fix their roofs, making them eligible for insurance discounts.
  
  
• $30 million would create 1,000 new affordable rental units, built to new sustainable standards.

Make your voices heard!

• Call/email your Councilmember and tell them to INVEST YOUR MONEY IN YOU.
  
  
• VOTE YES for HOUSING by supporting the Housing Trust Fund.
  
  
• Talk to your family, neighbors, friends, church community and tell them to VOTE YES for HOUSING by supporting the Housing Trust Fund.
  
  
• Attend Upcoming Council Meetings and speak up!
  
  
• VOTE YES on Election Day!

We have an affordable housing crisis in New Orleans and a dire need for consistent funding.  

National researchers report that we need more than 47,000 additional affordable rental units, and rising insurance costs are making homeownership unattainable.

The solution? A City Charter amendment that will require an annual dedication of existing City funds – 2% of the general fund, about $17M in 2024 – to affordable housing, including measures to address both rentals and homeownership.  Adding this new Housing Trust Fund will require voter approval on November 5.

Why is a charter amendment necessary, instead of just adopting an annual funding requirement in the City Code?

• Adding language to the City Charter is the only way to create a binding, multi-year funding requirement.
  • The Charter does not permit the City budget to include multi-year appropriations, unlike other cities.  Under Charter Sections 6-102 and 103, the Mayor is responsible for preparing the City’s operating budget annually, which is then subject to Council approval annually.  An appropriation is “valid only for the year for which made, and any part of such appropriation which is not encumbered or expended shall lapse at the end of the year.” 

• The alternative, suggested by BGR and the Times Picayune, is for the Council to rely on a City ordinance “requiring” an annual dedication.  This is not binding, meaning the Council can simply ignore the requirement every year.
  • Think of the City Charter as our Constitution, and the City Code and ordinances as our statutes and laws.  Laws can never override the Constitution, and one law can override another law at any time.
  • When the Council passes an annual City budget, this is by ordinance, or law.  That means the Council can override a City Code “requirement” for an annual appropriation simply by passing a budget without that appropriation.  
  • The only consequences the Council would face for taking this approach would be political ones – once again putting the onus back on the public to constantly hold the City Council accountable for housing funding.  Historically, this has not worked.  Until the 2024 budget, the Council has dedicated zero city dollars to affordable housing; we rely entirely on federal resources.  
  • Despite all of this, the Council passed a “backup ordinance” calling for an annual housing appropriation, if and only if the Housing Trust Fund Charter amendment fails.  In addition to this ordinance being unenforceable, it would allocate only one-third – at most – as much money to housing as the Housing Trust Fund.  That’s because we could count federal grant dollars toward meeting the “backup ordinance” funding requirement of $20M.  For reference, the City received $20.6M in federal HUD funds in 2023, which would have satisfied the requirement.  By comparison, the Charter amendment requires an annual allocation made up entirely of City resources (~$17M).

What about the argument that the Charter amendment ties up too much of our resources, when we might need them for other priorities like drainage or a City emergency?

• This is a common argument by fiscal conservatives.  They will always want to place the least restrictions possible on government resources, leaving flexibility for annual and mid-year allocations.  In reality, should the need arise, the City still has the flexibility to adjust other agency appropriations to find extra dollars, without cutting into the Housing Trust Fund.
• Even still, the Charter amendment contemplates a situation where we would need to cut the Housing Trust Fund annual appropriation for other uses.  By unanimous vote, the Council can reduce the appropriation whenever a declared emergency is in place.
• But, the bottom line is that our existing approach has not worked, and it’s led to our current housing crisis.  The only way out is to make sure Housing Trust Fund resources are placed outside of political pressure.  That’s the entire reason for the Charter amendment.

• September 6th – Kickoff Rally – 6pm at Ashe Cultural Arts Center
  
  
• September 9th – Quality of Life Committee – HTF Ordinance introduced, 1pm at City Hall
  
  
• September 19th – City Council to take up HTF Ordinance
  
  
• October 8th – 11th – City Council Budget Hearings
  October 18th – 29th – Early Voting
  
  
• November 5th– Election Day! Vote YES for Housing – Vote YES for the Housing Trust Fund!