Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released Beyond the Ballot: Analyzing Spending and Impacts of the 2019 New Orleans Bond Authorization. The report finds that the City of New Orleans raised a total of $589.6 million for capital improvements through two bond issues. It used the bond proceeds to fund a wide range of public facilities and equipment, infrastructure, and housing needs. The broad spending flexibility granted by voters in 2019 allowed the City to meet emerging capital priorities and cost inflation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public facilities, such as the jail and the Sewerage & Water Boardā€™s power complex, required greater City investments. But the Cityā€™s spending revisions left other projects in search of resources. Beyond those, there are other unmet capital needs. Future bond issues, such as the upcoming November 15 bond propositions, will have to take up the slack.
BGR will issue a separate report on the November 15 propositions in the next few days. The goal of todayā€™s report is to enhance public transparency and accountability for the 2019 bond authorization and help residents understand its uses and impacts.
The report recommends that the next mayor and council should:
- Develop a funding strategy to ensure proper preventive maintenance and repair for current and future capital investments.
- Optimize bond management by spending down bond proceeds in a timely manner and carefully considering opportunities to refinance the bonds.
- Improve the transparency of current and future bonds with a public-facing dashboard before the next bond issuance.
Read a mobile-friendly summary of BGR’s report on the results of the 2019 City bond authorization, and download the full report.