City of New Orleans Erroneously Collected Sales Tax It Now Can't Spend

New Orleans collected more than $460,000 through an expired sales tax in the first six months of this year and isn't sure what to do with it.

French Quarter businesses collected the tax from 2016 until it expired at the end of last December.

The French Quarter Economic Development District levied the tax to fund State Police patrols in and around the Vieux Carré.

The tax is supposed to take effect again at the beginning of October.

As for the revenue already collected, City Hall analyst Eric Smith says the city can't spend it.