French Quarter board asks voters to renew 2.245% sales tax; reports drop in street sleeping after outreach

The French Quarter Economic Development District on Wednesday approved a resolution asking voters to decide Nov. 15, 2025, whether to renew a 2.245% sales tax to continue funding the district's trust fund.

French Quarter Management District Executive Director Michelle Corso summarized the trust fund's recent work and said the district has spent 57% of its budget year to date while showing 22% in recorded expenses for the fiscal period (the staff presentation attributed both figures to contracting and purchase-order timing). Corso said the trust fund pays for supplemental police patrols, street-marking and pedestrian-safety projects, and partnerships addressing homelessness.

The trust-fund renewal resolution (French Quarter Economic Development Resolution R2025-2) was moved for adoption by Council Member Morales and seconded by Council Member Thomas; the council recorded six yeas and adopted the resolution.

Corso and other speakers described security and homelessness metrics they said suggest progress. Corso told the board that traffic citations in the quarter have increased 91% year over year after a coordinated enforcement effort involving NOPD, supplemental police, and DPW traffic enforcement; she cited one recent arrest by a Sergeant Packard during a traffic enforcement detail.

Representatives from the Office of Homeless Services and Travelers Aid described a three-phase outreach and closure-maintenance strategy. Nathaniel Fields, director of homeless service and strategies in the mayor's office, said the approach emphasizes offering services and shelter at point of contact; he said 25 people are currently sheltered from a cohort the teams engaged and that 25 people have been "geared up" to enter the housing process this week. Corso said Travelers Aid documented 242 engagements with unhoused people in week one of a new tasking; 33 people were transported to shelter and 25 remained sheltered at the time of the presentation, and daily engagement counts reportedly fell from 24—0 per day in week one to about 12 per day in week two as people accepted shelter.

Officials said the low-barrier shelter is at capacity and that agencies are coordinating to avoid simply displacing encampments to adjacent neighborhoods. Corso and Nathaniel Fields said the district is working with the Downtown Development District, Louisiana State Police, New Orleans Police Department and private security patrols to prevent "ping-ponging" of unhoused people from one neighborhood to another.

At the meeting Corso also listed near-term capital and quality-of-life projects: painted driveway and parking markings, pedestrian-safety signs at eight intersections on Rampart Street, and additional pedestrian-safety installations on North Peters. She said some of those pedestrian improvements require state cooperation because parts of the corridor are on state-controlled roadways.

Public commenter Michael Burnside criticized the strategy during the meeting's public comment period, saying the city is "picking on the weakest among us" by moving people into a single low-barrier shelter that is already full. Burnside argued the city lacks shelter capacity inside the French Quarter and warned redevelopment pressures could displace shelters. His full remarks were placed on the record.

What the council approved: the resolution authorizes a ballot measure for Nov. 15, 2025, asking voters in the French Quarter Economic Development District to renew a 2.245% sales tax to continue funding the district trust fund. The district and its partners will continue enforcement, outreach and pedestrian-safety projects funded by the trust fund.

The board presentation did not break down how a renewed tax would allocate dollars across individual projects beyond the broad program areas described, and staff noted some contracting and purchase-order payments are still being reconciled in the current fiscal year.

The board moved quickly through the item and adopted the resolution at the meeting; a public election would be required for the tax renewal to take effect.

Sources: presentation to the French Quarter Economic Development District; remarks by Michelle Corso and Nathaniel Fields; public comment by Michael Burnside; council action as recorded in the meeting transcript.