Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra has agreed to pay back over $1 million that it received from the New Orleans Public Library Foundation.

WWL-TV’s David Hammer, who has been following this issue closely for over a year, reports that NOJO and the foundation have reached an agreement-in-principle for the funds to be returned. According to Hammer, sources have said that NOJO would pay back $483,000 of the $1.03 million in installments over the course of five years. The rest–roughly $547,000–would come from in-kind contributions, such as NOJO-led benefit concerts for the foundation. Any amount that had not been returned after five years would have to be paid back in cash.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office will reportedly be reviewing the agreement during the next few weeks.

Ronald Markham at the groundbreaking ceremony for the New Orleans Jazz Market. Photo by Stephen Maloney.

The saga began last year when WWL-TV reported that Mayfield and his longtime friend and business associate, Ronald Markham, used their positions on the board of the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to direct some of the organization’s funds to NOJO. Both Mayfield and Markham are paid six-figure salaries by NOJO, many suspected that the diversion of funds stemmed from a conflict of interest.

Markham defended their use of the funds by arguing that they were put into the new $10 million New Orleans Jazz Market, a multi-purpose facility in Central City that includes a concert space, jazz venue and bar. According to Markham, some of the Jazz Market’s programming and amenities constituted library purposes.

A week after the dubious use of library foundation funds was exposed by WWL-TV (and exactly one year ago today), NOJO board chairman Ron Forman told the publication that the organization would quickly raise enough money to pay back the full amount. However, NOJO’s own internal audits determined that the money was not spent improperly, which led to disagreements between the two entities about how much of the money should be paid back. Evidently, both parties have finally come to an agreement on the matter.