NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans will no longer seek the State Bond Commission's approval for a temporary private loan after Mayor Helena Moreno said it became clear the request would be denied.

Moreno announced that the city would withdraw its application ahead of next week's bond commission meeting. WWL noted that the request was not for state funding, but for permission to obtain a temporary loan from a private lender as the city works through ongoing financial challenges, as well as funding for projects including the long-awaited demolition of the former Lindy Boggs Medical Center.

The city now has to find another way to get through 2026 without needing a loan, Moreno noted. 

WWL noted that Moreno remained committed to working with Gov. Jeff Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and other state leaders despite disagreements, including the indictment of Murrill on 16 charges connected to intimidation of New Orleans officials. 

Landry, however, questioned why Moreno withdrew a request for "urgently needed" funds and called for increased transparency in how New Orleans intends to fix its financial imbalance.

"How is it that the City one day needs $110 million and today it does not?" Landry said. "The City's ongoing inability to meet basic cash-flow requirements is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about management and transparency."

Murrill — a member of the Bond Commission — said the mayor's request was "dead on arrival," explaining that the city did not apply for short-term financing.

“The City did not apply for short-term financing," Murrill said in a statement to WWL. "It applied for approval to issue $110 million in Revenue & Refunding Bonds to make ends meet, imposing that bond debt and $102.6 million in interest costs over the life of the issuance, stretched out over 16 years, on the taxpayers without the revenue to pay for it."

Moreno later released a letter outlining her administration's plans for New Orleans, addressing Landry directly, highlighting the bond request's anticipated denial and stating that the withdrawal was "never intended to avoid difficult decisions."

"Rather than continuing to exchange public letters, I have respectfully requested that we meet," Moreno wrote in closing. "I would welcome the opportunity to walk through the City’s finances line by line."