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Lawmakers also should consider the Bureau of Governmental Research report from last year, which pointed out the basic unfairness of the tolls that are now collected on east-bank-bound drivers.

We, the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the Bureau of Governmental Research, Citizens for One Greater New Orleans, Women of the Storm, Levees.org and other citizen advocacy groups, promise to continue to hold government officials at all levels accountable for their actions.

As of Wednesday, the commission’s latest draft resolution recommends lawmakers “be reminded” of “the problems created” by the homestead exemption, which is highest in the nation, according to the commission. Echoing the Bureau of Governmental Research, the commission also criticizes lawmakers for shortchanging a revenue sharing fund meant to offset the exemption’s impact.

NOLA.com reports that the Bureau of Governmental Research calculated for its study that “43 percent of the total assessed value of property in Orleans Parish is exempt from taxation, with nearly one-quarter of the exempt property escaping taxes because it is owned by nonprofit groups.”

About half of tax-exempt property in New Orleans is owned by the government, with the remainder split between property protected by state-authorized exemptions for homeowners and a broad range of nonprofits including universities, churches and cultural groups, according to a recent report by the Bureau of Governmental Research.

The constitutionally enshrined nonprofit tax exemption needs stricter focus and local jurisdiction, according to a new report by the Bureau of Governmental Research.

With Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s Tax Fairness Commission continuing to examine New Orleans’ property and sales tax systems, a governmental research organization issued a report Tuesday urging major changes in the system of routinely awarding property tax exemptions to private schools and universities, churches, charities and other nonprofit organizations.

“That you would end up with a major blight problem was absolutely predictable,” said Janet R. Howard, executive director of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonprofit advisory group here. “You come to a point where you have to get beyond the political question to the actual question.”

Under a little-known provision in the state Constitution, the state is supposed to reimburse parishes, cities and other local agencies for the money lost due to the exemption, but in 2009 the state provided only $90 million for that purpose — just 12.5 percent of the $716 million lost statewide because of the exemption, the Bureau of Governmental Research said in a report.

The Bureau of Governmental Research is asking legislators to spike a proposal, sought by the New Orleans City Council, to carve new exceptions to the state open meetings law.

More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, the state’s troubled rental housing programs are finally bearing fruit, but recent market studies are making some leaders nervous about whether they should continue as they are.

Louisiana’s $75,000 homestead exemption is already the nation’s most generous, but that hasn’t stopped some misguided lawmakers from trying to increase it.

There are certain things you can count on in the spring in Louisiana — a lovely golden coat of pollen on your automobile, severe thunderstorms to wash it off and a funky smokescreen from state lawmakers in advance of the legislative session.

Everyone wants a free lunch — but everyone also should know such a thing does not exist.

Proposals to amend the state Constitution to more than double the homestead exemption are a bad idea, a local nonpartisan research and policy organization said Monday.

How state government should tax homeowners, sell expropriated property and make public investments are at the heart of three proposed constitutional amendments on next week’s ballot.

Three constitutional amendments on Tuesday’s ballot address the way political appointees and lawmakers do their jobs.

Among the seven proposed constitutional amendments on the Nov. 4 ballot, Louisiana voters will decide whether to let state and local governments invest in the stock market with money from public-employee retirement health care and life insurance funds.

Among the seven proposed changes to the state constitution on the Nov. 4 ballot in Louisiana is an amendment that would shift oil and gas severance tax revenue from the state to parishes where the industry activity is the greatest.

East Baton Rouge Parish stands to gain an additional $1.2 million a year from one of seven constitutional
amendments facing voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The Nov. 4 ballot presents Louisiana voters with much more than the all-
important contests for president, U.S. Senate and Congress.

When voters go to the polls Nov. 4, they will be greeted by seven little-heralded proposed changes to the state Constitution, including ones to limit the terms of 10 state boards, require the governor to give lawmakers more notice of a special session, and authorize a temporary replacement to fill a legislator’s seat if the incumbent is called to military duty for at least 180 days.

Under present law, if a lawmaker is called to active military duty, the district seat is temporarily left without a representative. If the proposed constitutional change passes, lawmakers would have the authority to go through a procedure to fill the opening on a temporary basis.