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Sanitation warns proposed cuts will scale back recycling and special-event cleanup; officials defend once-a-week trash contract
Summary
Sanitation leaders said proposed personnel and operating cuts would eliminate citywide recycling services, reduce special-event cleanup capacity and underfund Mardi Gras overtime, while defending the once-a-week collection contracts as a cost-driven change with improved performance metrics.
Department of Sanitation leadership told the council that proposed reductions in the departmentoperating and personnel budgets would force eliminations or severe scaling back of curbside recycling, weekly drop-off events, supplemental interstate sweeping and enhanced services in the French Quarter (Area 5).
The department said staffing vacancies — four equipment-operator openings and four laborer positions among other gaps — constrain field operations and that overtime included in the proposed 2026 operating budget is likely insufficient for Mardi Gras and other high-demand events.…
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