NEW ORLEANS, LA – City officials are considering an $850 fee for every Mardi Gras float, assuring concerned krewes that the additional money will be wasted with the same care and professionalism residents have come to expect.
Officials say the fee would help offset the millions New Orleans spends each year on sanitation, police, emergency services, and the complicated administrative process of figuring out why none of the other taxes and fees already collected seem to cover anything.
“We understand krewes want to know where their $850 is going,” one city official explained. “And we want to assure them that eventually, so would we.”
Krewe leaders questioned whether another fee could make Carnival increasingly expensive for organizations already paying substantial costs to parade.
City leaders dismissed those concerns, noting Mardi Gras floats represent one of the few remaining objects traveling through New Orleans without being charged something.
Officials are reportedly considering additional Carnival revenue opportunities, including a bead retrieval fee, a neutral-ground standing permit, and a $14 charge for getting rolled by a pack of thugs roaming the streets after dark.
