Reports › Taxation and Assessments

As the campaign for the city’s soon-to-be consolidated assessor’s office begins, BGR releases In All Fairness: Building a Model Assessment System in New Orleans. The report explains what the new citywide assessor must do to create a fair, efficient and transparent assessment system in Orleans Parish.

In this report entitled In the Private Interest: A Review of the Lake Forest Plaza TIF Proposal, BGR analyzes a tax increment financing (TIF) proposal by the owners of the former mall site to use public funds to clear up debts on the site and redevelop it.

In Who’s Behind the Tree? The Homestead Exemption and Taxpayers in the New Orleans Area, BGR examines the impacts of a proposed increase in Louisiana’s homestead exemption on taxpayers in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes.

The City of New Orleans is working on a draft policy governing tax increment financing. BGR submitted comments on the February 2008 draft at the request of the City Council’s Special Development Projects and Economic Development Committee. The letter recommends that the City look to San Antonio’s TIF policy for guidance. In November, BGR submitted a letter commenting on a City TIF policy report.

BGR provided this piece for publication in Gambit Weekly, explaining the ways in which significantly increased assessments can be about fairness and the common good.

In Protecting New Orleans’ Tax Base: Which PILOTs Should Fly? BGR addresses New Orleans’ system for handling property tax subsidies through the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) mechanism. This report comes at a time when requests for such subsidies are increasing.

Part of a series of web-based reports BGR began publishing following the 2005 disaster.

Part of a web-based series of reports on the rebuilding of New Orleans following the 2005 disaster.

In New Orleans, too many property owners pay little or no taxes on their properties; exemptions are granted regardless of need; and, as a result of inconsistent assessments, properties of similar value bear widely different tax burdens. In this report, BGR illustrates the impact of under-assessments and excessive exemptions on local governments and taxpayers in Orleans Parish. It also briefly reviews pending legislation that would exacerbate inequities and further limit the revenue base of local governments.

In a ground-breaking report, BGR tests the City’s claims of economic benefits in the World Trade Center hotel conversion. The report digs deep beneath the surface to unearth the fiscal imprudence of the lease deal for the City.

This report examines property tax exemptions for nonprofit organizations, and analyzes assessment administration in Orleans Parish.

An analysis of four dedicated property tax millages on the ballot for renewal in Jefferson Parish. All millages were renewed.

This report provides a short analysis of the potential creation of three separate neighborhood-based special tax districts and a recommendation on two proposed amendments to the State Constitution.

This report provides a short analysis of the proposal to levy a one-mill ad valorem tax to fund the offices of the Orleans Parish Assessors.

A report with recommendations on the value and assessment of real estate exempt from property taxation in New Orleans.