In The News › Government Finance

In an October report, the Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonprofit policy research organization in New Orleans, recommended removing elected officials from the board and giving the board authority to increase water and sewerage rates by an indexed amount annually, citing that local politics have long interfered with needed rate increases.

The task force’s recommendation to renew the tolls is at odds with a report released in April by the non-profit Bureau of Governmental Research, which said the tolls should be allowed to expire because just 19 cents of every toll dollar goes toward bridge maintenance and policing.

The Bureau of Governmental Research suggested in January 2009 that instead of trying to make a deal with another developer, the city should buy out the trade organization’s lease and then sell the tower and garage outright to a private developer.

But BGR President Janet Howard said the city’s decision to drop its efforts to change the exemption rules is alarming.

“It’s very disappointing news for taxpayers that there’s an unwillingness to take on the topic at all,” she said. “There’s a whole range of options, and they haven’t even taken steps to deal with the most egregious examples of over-generosity, where the nonprofit is providing no benefit to the public.”

“After the justice department issued its report, Chief Serpas proposed a plan to reform the NOPD’s detail policies and procedures, and one of the criticisms that is sometimes heard is that it would just shift the detail work to the sheriff’s department,” Janet Howard said. “ And clearly, the reforms should extend to all the law enforcement groups engaged in the practice in the jurisdiction.*

“If you don’t have a fund balance, if you have an emergency, if you have terrible flooding or something like that, you don’t have money on hand to deal with it,” Bureau of Governmental Research CEO Janet Howard said. “Ideally you would have one in place, but when you are coming out of a $25 million hole, you have an issue of how fast you can rebuild.”

The beleaguered Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans needs the power to increase water and sewerage rates annually and fewer politicians controlling its activity in order to aptly tackle billions of dollars in city infrastructure improvements, according to a report the Bureau of Governmental Research released today.

A new report calls for drastic measures to improve the crumbling sewer and water services in the city, including removing elected members from the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board and giving the agency more control over its own finances.

The system needs billions of dollars in repairs and improvements, said the Bureau of Governmental Research, which noted that the city’s Sewerage and Water Board can’t bill people for an estimated 75 percent of the water it treats, mostly because that water is lost to leaks.

The beleaguered Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans needs the power to increase water and sewerage rates annually and fewer politicians controlling its activity in order to aptly tackle billions of dollars in city infrastructure improvements, according to a report the Bureau of Governmental Research released today.

The Bureau of Governmental Research released a study in April saying that the tolls should be allowed to lapse because too much toll revenue is being spent on “far-flung services,” such as the ferries.

The Bureau of Governmental Research released a study in April saying bridge tolls should be allowed to expire because only 19 percent of toll revenue goes to policing and maintaining the bridge. The report said much of the rest is spent on “far-flung” services, including the ferries, which consume 32 percent of toll revenue.

In a recent letter to the editor on the Crescent City Connection, Transport for NOLA stated that BGR and others had raised concerns “about the efficacy of independent bridge and ferry operations and maintenance, which they argue are better left to the state Department of Transportation and Development.”

I would like to clarify a few points.

Bridge tolls are due to expire at the end of 2012, and audits that have found questionable spending as well as a report by the Bureau of Governmental Research, make a strong case for allowing that to happen. Crescent City Connection users have been paying for lots of things that have little or no benefit to them, and that’s unfair.

Noting that 32 percent of toll revenue goes to the three Mississippi River ferries, the nonprofit Bureau of Governmental Research issued a report recently saying the tolls should be allowed to expire because they are paying for too many services unrelated to bridge operations.

The Bureau of Governmental Research, a New Orleans-based policy institute, has determined that only 19 percent of all toll revenues actually go towards policing and maintenance of the bridge. The remainder is allocated to unrelated expenditures, such as the three Mississippi river ferries which use 32 percent of the CCC’s toll revenue. Additionally, an audit last year by Steve Theriot, the state’s legislative auditor, found that the CCCD has managed to deplete half of a $61 million dollar reserve fund.

Last week, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) issued a report saying lawmakers should let the tolls expire at the end of 2012. BGR found that only 19 percent of the toll funds collected were used to maintain and police the bridge.

But the watchdog group, Bureau of Governmental Research, BGR, has a new report out that argues the tolls should be allowed to expire.

The study also shows that only a fraction of each dollar a driver pays to cross the bridge actually goes to the bridge itself so Dennis sits down with CEO of BGR, Janet Howard to talk about the findings of the study on the tolls and the Crescent City Connection bridge, itself.

Crescent City Connection tolls will expire at the end of 2012 unless the Legislature renews them, but a Bureau of Governmental Research report on bridge finances should be required reading for lawmakers. That report, along with audits that have found instances of questionable spending, make it clear that Crescent City Connection users have been paying for a lot of things of little or no benefit to them.

The Legislature ultimately will decide whether the tolls will stay in place or be removed. In making the decision, they should take a good look at a study the Bureau of Governmental Research released this week that analyzes how money collected from tolls is spent.

The disclosures come a day after the Bureau of Governmental Research released a study saying bridge tolls should be allowed to expire because only 19 percent of toll revenue goes to policing and maintaining the bridge. The report said much of the rest is spent on “far-flung” services, including three Mississippi River ferries that consume 32 percent of toll revenue.

A report issued Tuesday by the Bureau of Governmental Research recommended the tolls on the Crescent City Connection not be extended past the end of 2012, because almost a third of the toll revenue subsidizes three ferry services across the river.

The Bureau of Governmental Research, in a report released Tuesday, said the Crescent City Connection is the only Mississippi River bridge in Louisiana that tolls its users. The organization adds that only a small portion of toll revenue goes to the operation and maintenance of the bridge, and that the cost of collecting the tolls is disproportionate to the revenue generated.

Just 19 cents of every toll dollar collected on the Crescent City Connection goes toward policing and maintaining the bridge, according to a Bureau of Governmental Research report that says the tolls are improperly being spent on “far-flung” services and should be allowed to expire at the end of 2012.

The findings of those state-requested audits come on the heels of a separate independent report, released by the Bureau of Governmental Research. It concluded the Crescent City Connection tolls should be allowed to expire at the end of 2012 because a large portion of the toll money is being used on things other than the bridge.

A new report by the Bureau of Governmental Research recommends state lawmakers allow the tolls on the Crescent City Connection to expire at the end of next year, agreeing with critics who say the tolls paid by CCC motorists should not fund other transportation projects.

We periodically hear from politicians about trimming fat, sharpening the pencil and taking a hard look at priorities. Usually this talk comes up around budget time, or maybe election time. But throughout the year, the New Orleans-based Bureau of Governmental Research, or BGR, is at work analyzing the systems and the policies behind those budgets. It examines whether taxpayers are getting good deals for their money and how effectively government policies address community issues. The group lays out the facts, connects the dots and demonstrates what it all means for residents.

In bird-dogging Landrieu’s 2011 budget proposal, the Bureau of Governmental Research pointed out that the three-person Public Information Office in Jefferson Parish, which has nearly 90,000 more residents than New Orleans, was allotted just $200,000 this year, with no money earmarked for outsourcing.

Mayor Landrieu says his spending plan includes two mills dedicated to NORD, which should provide over $5 million to recreation. The Bureau of Governmental research says while the Saturday meeting is unusual, it’s not taking a position on the tax increases.

Landrieu said the idea of a parking fee increase, which was proposed recently by Bureau of Governmental Research President Janet Howard, “had some merit” but he “would have had to exercise a very small veto” if the council had passed it.

Bureau of Governmental Research President Janet Howard said such a plan is almost finished and the council should consider whether the water board’s need for more money is in fact greater than the city’s.

But while Bureau of Governmental Research director Janet Howard warned against the council’s decision to freeze the Sewerage & Water Board taxing rate, Gentilly homeowner Steve Donahue challenged the city’s right to take more money from homeowners who chose to return to the city after Hurricane Katrina. Donahue, who is disabled and lives on a fixed income, said that he is making sacrifices to pay his own bills while also “bearing the burden of supporting the city.”

The president of the Bureau of Governmental Research last week said the city could save several million dollars in 2011 by cutting its spending on economic development, summer youth employment, the mayor’s communications office and a proposed new neighborhood outreach program. Landrieu fired back in a public letter defending the value of the programs.

BGR’s admittedly cursory review of our proposed budget seems to question investing in summer job opportunities for kids, job creation initiatives for residents and the public’s right to be engaged and informed.

While the non-profit, independent Bureau of Governmental Research doesn’t have an official stance on rolling millage forward, it did send an open letter to Landrieu suggesting ways the city can tighten its budget and bring in revenue instead of rolling forward millage rates.

The Bureau of Governmental Research wrote an open letter to Mayor Mitch Landrieu about the budget, outlining five steps it believes would save the city millions.

The president of the Bureau of Governmental Research offered some support Wednesday to New Orleans City Council members who have been looking for ways to cut Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s proposed $483.4 million city budget for 2011.

Quoting from a report by the Bureau of Governmental Research, Landrieu offered these dire observations: “The city of New Orleans faces a fiscal crisis. The future is here. General fund expenditures have gone up to support current services, meet urgent needs and clean up after the hurricane. … Long-accumulating cost pressures have broken through.”

Experts cautioned that, even with billions of dollars in aid expected to flow to the city, New Orleans wouldn’t get enough to properly rebuild every section of town — or to keep rebuilt facilities in good shape.

“Unless the city’s plan addresses the mismatch between the city’s footprint and its population by initially directing development into more compact areas, the outcome will be random, scattered development in a sea of blight,” the nonprofit Bureau of Governmental Research wrote in December 2005.

The Bureau of Governmental Research has put out a new report addressing the infrastructure needs of the city of New Orleans and recommendations for how to budget for improvements that need to be made. Dennis sits down with Janet Howard, the CEO of the Bureau of Governmental Research, to discuss the findings.

New Orleans, at age 292, has far more creaky infrastructure than any agency can afford to fix, according to a new report from the Bureau of Governmental Research. “The Price of Civilization” defines the problem in detail, although researchers say their tally of capital needs is not complete.

A new study by the independent Bureau of Governmental Research suggests there are “startling gaps” in the city’s ability to prevent the type of flooding seen in parts of New Orleans, Wednesday morning.

A report released Wednesday from the Bureau of Governmental Research indicated that the city needs billions to upgrade its badly impaired infrastructure.

While much attention has been paid recently to a projected $67.5 million shortfall in New Orleans’ 2010 operating budget, the Bureau of Governmental Research has been focusing on a shortfall of billions of dollars in the city’s ability to address its infrastructure needs.

Janet Howard of the Bureau of Governmental Research calls these numbers “shocking.” Howard says, “to have overtime at these rates is a red flag that something needs to be evaluated.”

“It is shocking when you have an employee making $171,000 when his base salary is $59,000,” Janet Howard of the Bureau of Governmental Research said. “What is going on there? That’s almost triple the base salary. Something is out of whack.”

As the head of the Bureau of Governmental Research looks over a document we sent her, she says something is out of whack.

The new mayor will need to bring residents back, lower crime and improve public education, said Janet Howard, chief executive officer of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a non- partisan public policy research group in New Orleans.

The Bureau of Governmental Research releases the first installment in a four-part Q&A series with mayoral candidates, “Questions for a New Mayor.”

One month after City Council members approved a 96 percent pay increase for themselves and a 6.5 percent increase for the mayor, plus an annual increase of 2.5 percent, they are considering a budget proposal by Mayor Ray Nagin that would cut the salaries of City Hall employees by at least 4.6 percent.

City workers could face a possible 12-day, unpaid furlough as part of a way to bridge an expected $68 million budget deficit in the upcoming year, according to sources.

It’s a tool that could help bring new businesses to Terrebonne. But it also could mean higher taxes for shoppers and business owners.

After more than two hours of debate that divided longtime allies and created some of the strangest political bedfellows in memory, the New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 Thursday to authorize millions of dollars in tax breaks for a team of businessmen hoping to redevelop the mostly empty site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans.

A controversial tax break to fund the redevelopment of an eastern New Orleans mall won approval from the New Orleans City Council today, even thought the council member in whose district the mall resides voted against it.

After hours of apparently tense closed-door negotiations, the leader of an effort to redevelop the site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans said late today that he expects the New Orleans City Council to vote Thursday to approve a significant tax break for the project.

The council will once again take up the issue of a high-profile tax break. It would help a developer who says his vision will dramatically transform what used to be the Lake Forest Plaza.

Before New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis supports a tax break for the former Lake Forest Plaza mall, developers and the city are going to have to answer some questions — quickly.

Over the objections of developer Cesar Burgos, the City Council deferred action Thursday on a tax break that Burgos has said he needs to redevelop the mostly vacant site of the former Lake Forest Plaza mall in eastern New Orleans.

The rebuilding of eastern New Orleans is vital to the city’s ongoing recovery, and city officials are right to look for ways to spark economic development there. But the deal being proposed by developers who want to use a portion of sales tax revenues to remake Lake Forest Plaza isn’t a smart way to achieve that goal.

A formal report by the Bureau of Governmental Research says that the proposed Lake Forest Plaza tax increment financing district that will be considered by the City Council Thursday is “fraught with problems.”

A plan to use taxpayer money to develop a new mall at the site of the old Lake Forest Plaza, while touted as an effort to benefit New Orleans East residents, is actually a plan to benefit the property owners, according to the non-partisan Bureau of Governmental Research.