The City of New Orleans has received its first portion of federal pandemic relief funds through the American Rescue Plan. This historic federal investment will influence the City’s budget for th
The Bureau of Governmental Research today releases Handle with Care: Public Planning and Accountability Must Guide Spending of Federal Relief Funds. This BGR NOW offers guidance to government entities
As far as New Orleans is concerned, the stock market’s loss is the city’s gain. Here’s why. When Poco Sloss returned home with a degree from Georgia Tech, he needed a job, so he decided to try h
A nonpartisan think tank recommends French Quarter voters not renew a roughly quarter-cent sales tax in the Vieux Carré on Saturday, citing lack of agreement over how the money should be spent. But a
New Orleans voters will be asked to reconfigure five soon-to-expire taxes into four new ones on the Dec. 5 ballot, leaving the overall tax rate the same but altering how much funding various city serv
OVERVIEW Welcome to the inaugural edition of PolicyWatch, a periodic newsletter that draws on BGR’s body of independent, nonpartisan research to address current public policy issues. This edition fo
If you’re really lucky, at least once in your life you cross paths with someone truly extraordinary. I was very blessed to spend time with Bill Borah during his last years. He was an exceptionally i
The controversial 1,200-room hotel proposed for the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center passed a major milestone on Friday, when a hard-fought legislative bill laying out the terms
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, a major player in the New Orleans tourism industry, is sitting on some $200 million in tax money — funds generated for a center expansion that was scrapped a
The Bureau of Governmental Research is once again calling for changes in the way taxes are distributed in New Orleans, issuing a new report just as Mayor LaToya Cantrell and representatives of the tou