Today, BGR releases The $1 Billion Question Revisited: Updating BGR’s 2015 Analysis of Orleans Parish Tax Revenues. With New Orleans facing billions of dollars in costs to improve infrastructure and public services, this report updates key figures from a 2015 BGR report that analyzed the uses of local tax revenues in Orleans Parish. The new report is a resource to help policymakers and citizens assess how well current funding priorities align with New Orleans’ needs and identify options to redirect tax revenues to meet those needs.
The report breaks down 2019 projected local tax revenue by recipient and by purpose. It then compares the results to 2015, when BGR published The $1 Billion Question: Do the Tax Dedications in New Orleans Make Sense? It finds that local taxes will generate an estimated $1.25 billion in 2019, an increase of $154 million, or 14%, since 2015. This increase is the result of $33 million in new taxes and growth in revenue from existing taxes that significantly exceeded the rate of inflation. The report also reviews progress toward BGR’s 2015 recommendation to reevaluate tax allocations to identify funding for high-priority needs.
Read the full report, a two-page summary and the media release.
