This report analyzes the impact of the 2019 “Fair Share” deal to direct new tourism dollars to maintain streets, drainage and other infrastructure in New Orleans. BGR finds that the deal is delivering on its promise, with opportunities for improvement.
This report, How Has “Fair Share” Fared?, analyzes the impact of the 2019 “Fair Share” deal to direct new tourism dollars to maintain streets, drainage and other infrastructure in New Orleans. BGR finds that the deal between the City of New Orleans and State of Louisiana is delivering on its promise to provide significant recurring revenue for essential infrastructure improvements – all at little or no cost to local taxpayers and ratepayers. BGR also identified ways to improve the deal, including providing greater transparency and accountability for the use of the funds.
The revenue comes primarily from taxes on hotels and short-term rentals, with additional contributions from the City. All told, 2023 recurring revenue reached $30.8 million. This included $27.6 million for infrastructure that was divided between the Sewerage & Water Board ($21.9 million) and the City’s Department of Public Works ($5.7 million). The remaining $3.2 million was for tourism promotion and went to New Orleans & Company, a private nonprofit organization.
BGR concludes that there is a significant opportunity to enhance the impact of Fair Share and improve public transparency and accountability. BGR makes a series of recommendations in the report, which are summarized here:
BGR examines New Orleans’ drainage funding challenges and outlines what any future stormwater proposal must deliver to earn public trust. OVERVIEW New Orleans faces significant and growing drainage challenges that existing funding sources cannot adequately address. The city relies primarily on property taxes to pay for drainage infrastructure, but those taxes have not kept pace […]
BGR shows how the Convention Center can reduce public subsidies for its convention hotel. And it can do so with little or no impact on the hotel’s profits. OVERVIEW In this report, Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) presents several ways that the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center can restructure the public subsidies for its […]
In this report, BGR examines three separate propositions on the November 15, 2025, ballot that would authorize the City of New Orleans to borrow a total of $510 million for capital improvements.
This Beyond the Ballot report enhances public transparency and accountability for the 2019 New Orleans bond authorization and helps residents understand its uses and impacts.
This BGR NOW report re-emphasizes key recommendations to help preserve and strengthen the City of New Orleans’s financial health.
The reform and modernization of local government is a lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina. By envisioning positive change and reforming local government, residents, advocates and policymakers created a better future for Greater New Orleans. BGR is proud to have been a leader in these efforts with our independent, nonpartisan research and monitoring. On the 20th […]
BGR’s Candidate Q&A reports ask the candidates for mayor, City Council and sheriff in the October 11, 2025 primary election to explain how they will address important public policy issues if elected. BGR developed the questions based on our body of research. Many of these issues have close ties to concerns that voters themselves have […]
In this On the Ballot report, BGR informs New Orleans voters about the May 3, 2025 property tax renewal proposed by the Orleans Parish Sheriff.
This report discusses City of New Orleans financial practices that are out of step with recommendations by government finance experts and calls for improvements.
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) has updated its interactive Property Tax Dashboards with the latest rates for Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. First launched at the beginning of 2024, the dashboards help residents, business owners and policymakers navigate the complexities of property tax rates, taxing bodies and dedicated purposes across the three parishes. […]
This letter to New Orleans’ mayor and City Council highlights ways to strengthen the future use of Housing Trust Fund money. In November 2024, New Orleans voters amended the City charter to dedicate annual funding to the trust fund. This amount will equal at least 2% of the City of New Orleans General Fund budget […]
This On the Ballot report informs New Orleans voters in the November 5, 2024, election about a proposal to amend the City charter to require an annual budget appropriation for the City’s Housing Trust Fund.
This report analyzes the impact of the 2019 “Fair Share” deal to direct new tourism dollars to maintain streets, drainage and other infrastructure in New Orleans. BGR finds that the deal is delivering on its promise, with opportunities for improvement.
On April 4, 2024, BGR provided research-based guidance to New Orleans City Council leaders as they review economic development incentive programs. Our letter to the council president and vice president draws on our extensive body of work on property tax subsidies authorized by payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) programs. The council leaders announced their […]
Property taxes are a basic means of financing local government, but the public faces a confusing array of tax rates, taxing bodies and dedicated purposes across the New Orleans region. To help explain these taxes, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) today launched an interactive, online tool. BGR’s property tax dashboards for Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Tammany […]
In a November 28 letter to the City Council, BGR recommends that the council create a formal process to objectively evaluate S&WB funding proposals for the city’s water, sewer and drainage systems. BGR also recommends that the council develop a stronger framework for oversight that relies more on regular accountability, instead of the council’s control […]
This BGR NOW report urges the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish Sheriff to resolve a long-running disagreement over funding the jail. The dispute flared anew last fall when the City Council denied the Sheriff’s request for a $12.4 million funding increase. Voters subsequently rejected a Sheriff’s Office proposal to increase its property […]
OVERVIEW These On the Ballot reports inform New Orleans voters about three propositions on the October 14, 2023 ballot: the renewal of a property tax for public school facilities and charter amendments on code enforcement and the City budget process. The Orleans Parish School Board is seeking to renew a property tax of up to 4.97 […]
Today, BGR sent a letter to the mayor and the New Orleans City Council urging greater planning and public reporting for the City of New Orleans’ use of its primary financial reserve. The City Council’s budget committee is meeting tomorrow, May 23, to consider more than $73 million in appropriations from this reserve, called the […]
This report connects the flawed governance structure of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) to key problems affecting the city’s water, sewer and drainage systems and examines potential paths to long-term improvement.
OVERVIEW In this letter to the Jefferson Parish Council, BGR recommends ways in which the council can improve planning and public reporting for one-time spending made possible by the receipt of federal pandemic relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In June 2022, the council allocated the Parish’s $84 million of ARPA funds […]
OVERVIEW This On the Ballot report studies the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s proposed property tax increase that New Orleans voters will decide on April 29, 2023.
OVERVIEW In this report, BGR explores how the City of New Orleans has deployed pandemic relief funds it received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and what impacts this unprecedented one-time money had on City finances and budget priorities.
OVERVIEW This report is intended to help New Orleans voters make an informed decision on whether to approve a new 5-mill, 20-year property tax dedicated to programs and capital investments that provide childcare and educational opportunities for children who have not yet entered kindergarten.
OVERVIEW On the Ballot: New Orleans Library and Housing Taxes, December 11, 2021 provides New Orleans voters with independent analysis of the library and housing property tax propositions on the December 11 ballot citywide. Both taxes would take effect in 2022 and run for 20 years. Each would replace an existing property tax that expires […]
OVERVIEW In August, the New Orleans City Council excluded hotel room rentals from a new sales tax for enhanced public safety in the French Quarter despite questions about whether the exclusion is permissible under state law. While BGR has not taken a position on the legal issues, this BGR NOW report identifies several compelling policy […]
OVERVIEW In this release, Handle with Care: Public Planning and Accountability Must Guide Spending of Federal Relief Funds, BGR offers guidance to government entities on harnessing the opportunities presented by unprecedented federal funding to spur recovery from the pandemic’s economic, fiscal and health impacts.
OVERVIEW BGR’s report, On the Ballot: French Quarter Sales Tax, April 24, 2021, is intended to help French Quarter voters make an informed decision on a proposition for a 0.245% sales tax to pay for supplemental police patrols and other public safety services. The tax would take effect July 1 and remain in place for […]
OVERVIEW On the Ballot: French Quarter Sales Tax Renewal, December 5, 2020 is intended to help French Quarter voters make an informed decision on a proposition to renew a 0.2495% sales tax to pay for supplemental public safety services. The proposition would extend the tax – set to expire at the end of 2020 – for […]
OVERVIEW On the Ballot: New Orleans Property Tax Propositions, December 5, 2020 analyzes three propositions to replace several City of New Orleans property taxes that expire at the end of 2021. The replacement taxes would have the same combined rate of 5.82 mills as the existing taxes. However, the propositions would change the tax dedications. […]
OVERVIEW With the public getting its first look at this year’s property tax assessment rolls beginning July 15, 2020, this edition of PolicyWatch re-urges BGR’s recommendations on property valuation practices in New Orleans. It also revisits an unusual funding formula that generates large surpluses for the Orleans Parish Assessor’s office at the expense of other […]
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 focuses on the City of New Orleans’ finances as it faces a pandemic-induced budget deficit. It discusses the City’s proposal to borrow up to $100 million as […]
OVERVIEW Conventional Wisdom: Pausing the Convention Hotel Deal to Assess the Pandemic’s Impact and Reduce Public Costs calls for reassessing the hotel project’s feasibility and reducing the cost of the public’s contributions.
OVERVIEW Assessing the Assessor: Progress on Property Assessment Reform in New Orleans evaluates whether and to what extent New Orleans’ property assessment system has improved under the single parish assessor since he replaced the seven-assessor system in 2011.
OVERVIEW As the City Council reviews the proposed $722 million 2020 operating budget, BGR Now: A Framework for Assessing New Orleans’ Proposed 2020 Budget outlines key findings of BGR’s recent City budget study to help inform citizens and policymakers. BGR’s study, A Look Back to Plan Ahead, analyzes growth in revenues and changes in expenditures […]
Overview On the Ballot: New Orleans Bond and Tax Propositions, November 16, 2019 studies three propositions to let the City issue bonds for capital improvements, levy a new tax for maintenance, and levy a new tax on short-term rentals. If voters approve, the City of New Orleans would be able to: Issue up to $500 […]
Overview A Look Back to Plan Ahead: Analyzing Past New Orleans Budgets to Guide Funding Priorities reviews a decade of City General Fund budgets. It also lays a foundation for examining potential opportunities to reallocate revenue to critical needs.
Overview On the Ballot: Housing Tax Exemptions in New Orleans, October 12, 2019 reviews Constitutional Amendment No. 4, which would allow the City of New Orleans to exempt from taxation properties with up to 15 residential units located within Orleans Parish to promote affordable housing. This report is the latest in BGR’s On the Ballot series, […]
Questions for a New Parish Council is the second in a two-part 2019 Candidate Q&A Election Series providing the views of candidates for Jefferson Parish government on important public policy issues, such as tax dedications and contracting. Questions for a New Parish Council provides voters with the candidates’ answers to 16 questions developed from BGR’s […]
Questions for a New Parish President is the first in a two-part 2019 Candidate Q&A Election Series providing the views of candidates for Jefferson Parish president on important public policy issues affecting Parish government. Questions for a New Parish President provides voters with the candidates’ answers to 16 questions developed from BGR’s body of research. […]
In this letter to the Mayor and City Council, BGR suggests the City of New Orleans develop a strategy to requalify for tax-exempt status for future bond issues. This would save interest costs for taxpayers financing infrastructure and other capital projects. Discovering the Issue While conducting research for a report on the City’s budget, BGR […]
Overview The $1 Billion Question Revisited: Updating BGR’s 2015 Analysis of Orleans Parish Tax Revenues breaks down 2019 projected local tax revenue by recipient and by purpose to help assess current funding priorities and identify options to redirect tax revenues to needs.
Overview The report analyzes a May 4, 2019 tax proposition in New Orleans to replace three existing taxes for parks and recreation totaling 6.31 mills with a single tax at the same rate. Voter approval would not result in a tax increase. The three existing taxes fund the Audubon Zoo (0.32 mills), the Audubon Aquarium […]
Overview On March 30, 2019, New Orleans voters will decide whether to approve a new property tax for elderly services, programs and other assistance. If approved, the tax will be levied citywide at a rate of 2 mills for five years, beginning in 2020. The tax would generate $6.6 million in the first year. BGR’s […]
Overview In this report, BGR compares Orleans Parish hotel taxes to best practices for taxation as well as state and national norms, focusing primarily on the share of revenue available for general municipal purposes.
OVERVIEW This On the Ballot report informs voters on a proposed City of New Orleans charter amendment to change the composition of the Sewerage & Water Board’s board of directors. On December 8, 2018, New Orleans voters will consider removing one citizen member and adding a City Council representative to the board, who may be […]
OVERVIEW Today BGR releases three reports on Jefferson Parish tax renewals for drainage works, juvenile services, and animal shelter and health services that voters will consider on November 6, 2018. If approved, each tax would be renewed for 10 years, from 2021 to 2030. On the Ballot: Jefferson Drainage Property Tax Renewal Voters in Jefferson […]
OVERVIEW This On the Ballot report reviews a constitutional amendment on the November 6, 2018 ballot that would allow eligible homeowners to phase in an increase in property taxes resulting from a reappraisal. The four-year phase-in process would apply only to residential properties subject to the homestead exemption that increase in assessed value by more […]
Overview Today, BGR releases an open letter to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The letter sets forth BGR’s concerns about a Convention Center consultant’s recent analysis of the feasibility and economic impact of a proposed 1,200-room convention hotel. The letter seeks to reconcile the consultant’s findings with the analysis in BGR’s July 19 […]
OVERVIEW In this report, BGR provides an analytical framework for evaluating the necessity and size of a private development team’s requested public contributions to design, build and operate a 1,200-room hotel attached to the New Orleans Ernest N Morial Convention Center. BGR estimates the proposed contributions – some of which would remain in place for 40 […]
OVERVIEW This report is the latest installment in BGR’s Candidate Q&A Election Series. The new report consolidates and reissues the responses of the newly elected City of New Orleans mayor and councilmembers who completed BGR’s surveys last fall on important issues facing City government. We encourage citizens to revisit the issues by reviewing the BGR […]
OVERVIEW BGR’s release addresses a bill that would, among other things, allow a member of the New Orleans City Council to sit on the Sewerage & Water Board. BGR opposes the change in board composition for the S&WB and urges instead that policymakers focus on improving City Council oversight and regulation of the S&WB within […]
Overview BGR’s On the Ballot report examines the proposed amendment on the November 18, 2017, ballot to establish the Savings Fund of the City of New Orleans in the City’s home rule charter.
Overview BGR’s On the Ballot report analyzes the proposed 10-year renewals of three existing property taxes for New Orleans public schools that voters will decide on October 14, 2017.
Overview For the October 14, 2017 primary elections in New Orleans, BGR provided voters with its 2017 Candidate Q&A Election Series. BGR submitted questions to all mayoral and City Council candidates on public safety, infrastructure and other important public policy issues facing the City of New Orleans government. BGR compiled the answers of the candidates who […]
Overview Paying for Streets: Options for Funding Road Maintenance in New Orleans explores ways to fund the routine maintenance necessary to safeguard the City’s $2 billion, once-in-a-lifetime capital investment in the street network.
Overview Beneath the Surface: A Primer on Stormwater Fees in New Orleans explores a funding mechanism for drainage that is expanding in usage nationwide as an alternative to ad valorem property taxes.
Overview BGR studies four dedicated taxes up for renewal on the December 10, 2016 in Jefferson Parish: a sales tax for parish sewerage, road and drainage projects, law enforcement and municipal governments in Jefferson; and three property taxes for parish drainage, recreation and public schools.
Overview BGR reviews two property tax propositions on the ballot in New Orleans on December 10, 2016: a tax increase for fire protection services for the City of New Orleans and a tax renewal for the Sewerage & Water Board’s drainage system.
Overview In Convention Center Bill Highlights Need to Rethink Local Taxation, BGR addresses a bill that would grant taxing authority to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s economic development district. The release calls for a comprehensive re-evaluation of Orleans Parish taxes, with an eye toward aligning tax revenues with the city’s most pressing needs.
Overview BGR explains and analyzes two tax propositions in New Orleans on April 9, 2016: one for street work and other improvements, and a second for the police and fire departments.
Overview In The $1 Billion Question: Do the Tax Dedications in New Orleans Make Sense? BGR presents a comprehensive picture of where local tax dollars are going in Orleans Parish. The report provides breakdowns of tax dedications by entity and by purpose, and gives examples of problems that can arise when tax dedications are established […]
Overview BGR analyzes two property tax propositions meant to sustain west bank flood protection systems and three proposed St. Tammany charter amendments before voters on November 21, 2015. The tax propositions include a new tax for the West Jefferson Levee District and a tax renewal for the Algiers Levee District in New Orleans. Both levee […]
Overview This On the Ballot report informs voters in the October 24, 2015 election about a proposed quarter-cent sales tax for public safety in New Orleans’ French Quarter and a constitutional amendment allowing the State of Louisiana to invest in an infrastructure bank.
Overview BGR analyzes proposed property taxes for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Law Enforcement District, the New Orleans Public Library system and the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District in St. Bernard Parish. Voters in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish will decide the propositions on May 2, 2015. The Lake Borgne Basin Levee District is governed […]
Overview BGR reviews a proposed property tax for the upkeep of public school facilities in New Orleans and 11 propositions to amend the Jefferson Parish charter that voters will decide on December 6, 2014. The charter propositions relate to: Modifying the Jefferson Parish Council’s authority to investigate parish affairs Limiting the outside employment of the […]
Overview BGR examines two proposed amendments to the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans, one Orleans Parish property tax proposition and two constitutional amendments on the ballot for November 4, 2014. One City charter amendment would incorporate certain professional services contracting reforms made in 2010. The other charter amendment would move the […]
On July 22, 2014, hundreds of citizens and a number of government officials turned up at a citywide meeting hosted by the Fix My Streets campaign and the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association to discuss options for addressing New Orleans’ bumpy street network. The dialogue centered on the need to determine the condition of city streets, […]
Overview In this release, BGR encourages qualified citizens to volunteer to serve on the newly constituted Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans.
Overview In On the Ballot: October 19, 2013, BGR explains, analyzes and takes positions on three tax propositions on the ballot in Jefferson Parish and two proposed charter amendments in New Orleans, one of which would reform the Sewerage & Water Board. The Jefferson tax propositions are renewals of property taxes for the Jefferson Parish […]
Overview In this release, BGR urges the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans to delay initiating the search for a new executive director until after voters decide on governance reforms.
Overview In an open letter to the Louisiana Legislature, BGR sets forth its positions on evolving legislation to reform the governance of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans.
Overview In this release, BGR examines a 2013 legislative proposal to authorize a hotel assessment in New Orleans. For hotel guests, the assessment would be the functional equivalent of a new hotel tax.
Overview In this release, BGR discusses possible amendments to the evolving governance reforms for the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans and recommends improvements.
Overview In this release, BGR discusses possible amendments to pending legislation to reform the governance of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, and makes recommendations to protect the nominating process.
Overview In this release, BGR looks at Mayor Landrieu’s proposed governance reforms to the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, with specific attention to the board member nomination process.
Overview BGR reviews a proposal by the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans to raise water and sewer rates 10% a year for the next eight years. It examines the proposed water and sewer rate increases and their impacts on customers. It also examines the proposed uses of the additional funding and how far […]
Overview In this release, BGR calls on the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans to limit rate increases temporarily to those that are necessary to meet its obligations under the federal consent decree that governs the sewer system. It states that additional increases should be contingent on, and adopted after, the implementation of meaningful […]
Overview In On the Ballot: November 6, 2012, BGR examines three proposed constitutional amendments, two propositions pertaining to multiple parishes in the New Orleans area, a proposed change to the City of New Orleans charter and two local tax propositions. The three constitutional amendments would strengthen gun rights, provide an additional homestead exemption to spouses […]
Overview This edition of Now addresses the proposed funding increases for the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans in the context of necessary governance reforms.
Overview In Making the Waterworks Work: Fixing the Sewerage & Water Board’s Governance Problems, BGR examines how the governance of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans has contributed to the agency’s problems, presents options for reforms and makes recommendations for change.
Overview BGR examines charter amendments, tax propositions and state constitutional amendments on the October and November 2011 ballots. The October 22 ballot includes a Jefferson Parish charter amendment to establish the Office of Inspector General and an Ethics and Compliance Commission, as well as a related property tax to fund both entities. It also includes […]
Overview On the Ballot: Jefferson Parish, April 30, 2011 examines four proposed tax renewals. One is a sales tax renewal for the Jefferson Parish Public School System. The other three are property tax renewals that support Jefferson Parish drainage, juvenile services, and a combination of the Parish’s animal shelters and public health facilities and the […]
Overview The Bureau of Governmental Research made presentations before the New Orleans Tax Fairness Commission on February 3, 2011 and February 23, 2011. The first presentation, Taxation in New Orleans, examines the City’s tax picture, with particular emphasis on property taxes. It provides an overview of the tax structure and discusses issues related to exemptions […]
Overview On November 24, BGR sent a letter to the Mayor and City Council on the proposed 2011 budget for the City of New Orleans. The letter contains suggestions that would free up millions of dollars.
Overview In Rolling Forward: The Complete Picture, BGR provides a composite picture of citywide property tax rates in New Orleans, the capacity of various taxing entities to increase those rates, and the potential cost to property owners. The report also explains the “roll forward” process following a property assessment.
BGR analyzes 10 State constitutional amendments on the ballot for November 2, 2010. The amendments concern a wide variety of issues, including: Salary increases for elected officials Allocation of State of Louisiana severance taxes Property tax exemption for disabled veterans Limiting tax increases for non-elected taxing authorities Extending the period following a disaster for retaining […]
Overview BGR analyzes two Orleans Parish propositions and two State constitutional amendments on the ballot for October 2, 2010. The two Orleans Parish propositions would amend the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans to reconfigure the governance of City recreation services and facilities, and adjust the City Council membership on the Sewerage […]
Overview In The Price of Civilization: Addressing Infrastructure Needs in New Orleans, BGR provides information on New Orleans’ core infrastructure needs – including streets, the systems of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, schools and the Orleans Parish jail – and assesses the community’s capacity to fund those needs.
Overview In Forgotten Promises: The Lost Connection Between the Homestead Exemption and the Revenue Sharing Fund, BGR examines the decline of the State of Louisiana’s funding mechanism for compensating local taxing bodies for the costs of the homestead exemption. The report provides data on compensation for New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and St. Tammany Parish.
Overview With the primary on the way, BGR submitted questions to all mayoral candidates on topics in four areas: the city’s budget, city services, infrastructure and blight. Four candidates – Rob Couhig, John Georges, Mitch Landrieu and James Perry – responded. BGR is presenting the Q&A to the public in a web-only, four-part series, Questions […]
Overview 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 property tax assessment system in Orleans Parish.
Overview 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 in eastern New Orleans to use public funds to clear up debts on the site and redevelop it.
Overview On February 3, 2009, BGR sent a letter to Councilman Arnold Fielkow, Chairman of the New Orleans City Council’s Special Projects and Economic Development Committee, on the use and operation of the City’s Economic Development Fund. The letter recommends that the City abandon the current practice of directing grants to a handful of individual […]
Overview BGR provides analysis of local propositions as well as amendments to the state constitution appearing on the ballot for November 4, 2008. A proposition in New Orleans would amend the city charter to make comprehensive changes to planning and land use decision making in the city. A proposition in Jefferson Parish would expand the permissible […]
Overview Street Smarts: Maintaining and Managing New Orleans’ Road Network provides an overview of street management systems in general and examines the challenges New Orleans faces in maintaining its streets. It concludes with recommendations to improve street maintenance and management in New Orleans.
Overview In On the Ballot: New Orleans, October 2008, BGR provides analysis and takes positions on two ballot propositions: one to issue bonds through the Sheriff’s Law Enforcement District for Orleans Parish criminal justice facilities and another to protect the newly created Office of Inspector General in New Orleans.
Overview Look Before You Leap: Tax Increment Financing in Jefferson Parish provides an overview of tax increment financing (TIF) and describes four TIF districts proposed in Jefferson Parish. It also reviews the perceived benefits of TIF, as well as the pitfalls and potential abuses of the mechanism. It concludes with recommendations to the Jefferson Parish […]
Overview On the Ballot: Orleans Parish School Tax Renewals provides an overview of four New Orleans school property tax millages up for voter renewal on July 19, 2008. The taxes support basic operations and maintenance, among other needs.
Overview 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 […]
Overview This release calls on the City of New Orleans to conform to charter requirements in producing its capital budget, which is developed by the mayor and reviewed by the New Orleans City Planning Commission and City Council.
The Bureau of Governmental Research analyzes four proposed amendments to the State constitution and one proposed amendment to the St. Tammany Parish home rule charter. The report covers amendments that will go before voters on October 20, 2007. Two of the proposed constitutional amendments deal with State supplemental pay for local public safety employees. The third […]
Overview In the face of mounting developer requests for subsidies, this release calls for the City of New Orleans and the Industrial Development Board of New Orleans to stop approving subsidies until they have implemented promised policies and procedures.
Overview This release raises concerns about proposed budget approvals for the New Orleans Office of Recovery Management’s plans in advance of a public vetting of those plans. New Orleans recovery planning process following Hurricane Katrina requires transparency and public input.
Overview In Budgeting in a Time of Crisis: A Review of the City of New Orleans’ 2007 Budgets, BGR examines the City’s operating and capital budgets for 2007, the second fiscal year following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Overview In Seeking Subsidies on Top of Subsidies, BGR raises concerns about requests for local property tax subsidies through the Industrial Development Board of New Orleans to housing developments that have already received subsidies through state and federal programs intended to support recovery following Hurricane Katrina. These include some redevelopments of public housing sites of […]
Overview BGR analyzes three tax propositions to go before voters in Jefferson Parish on March 31, 2007. The propositions would renew property taxes levied parishwide or in large portions of the parish that provide funding for the public schools, recreation and drainage.
Overview 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 to the Industrial Development Board of New Orleans are increasing.
Overview This On the Ballot report analyzes proposed constitutional amendments of particular significance to the New Orleans region. This issue covers amendments before voters on November 7, 2006. This report focuses on five amendments that address issues relevant to the New Orleans area. These amendments deal with property taxes, the juvenile court system, and assessors. […]
Overview On September 30, Louisiana voters were asked to approve 13 constitutional amendments. This report focuses on those that are amendments relevant to Greater New Orleans in four arenas: coastal restoration and flood protection, expropriation, the homestead exemption, and unfunded state mandates. In addition, BGR provides an expanded discussion of the proposed amendment on expropriation, […]
Overview BGR and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, Inc. (PAR) have issued a joint report calling for a full appraisal of financial options for local governments in fiscal crisis, including municipal bankruptcy.
Overview The New Orleans Saints, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, and the State of Louisiana are in the midst of negotiations that will determine whether the Saints remain in New Orleans. Sports subsidies present communities with difficult political and financial decisions. In this report, BGR seeks to provide policymakers and the public with background […]
Overview On the Right Track? New Orleans Economic Development in Perspective provides an overview of economic development expenditures in New Orleans to give citizens and government with a better understanding of their investment. The report takes a comprehensive look at the actors in New Orleans economic development in 2004, including: the City of New Orleans […]
Overview BGR analyzes two of four state constitutional amendments that will appear on the November 2, 2004, ballot. The two amendments would modify the homestead exemption and the veterans’ preference to apply for civil service positions. In addition, BGR provides voters in New Orleans with information on a proposed $260 million bond issue and Jefferson […]
Overview In this report, BGR predicts tight financial times ahead for Jefferson Parish Government. What can the Parish Council and Parish President do about it? This report offers an array of options for keeping the parish coffers filled.
Overview BGR studies the use of tax increment financing (TIF) in general for economic development and in New Orleans in particular, and makes recommendations.
Overview As discussed in this report, for more than a year and a half, the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) has actively pursued a procurement for the private management, operation, and maintenance of the S&WB’s water and wastewater systems. This week the S&WB is scheduled to take a critical step in the […]
Overview The new study reassesses the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) selection process in light of developments over the past year and discusses certain critical issues with the S&WB’s proposed service agreement.
Overview On March 2, 2002, Orleans Parish voters will be asked to decide whether the City Charter should be amended to require voter approval of decisions by the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) to enter into certain privatization contracts.
Overview On February 2, 2002, the voters of New Orleans will consider a proposition to authorize the extension of the property tax millage for the New Orleans Business and Industrial District. The district has since been renamed the New Orleans Regional Business Park.
Overview This report examines the history and current state of the operating budget and compares revenues and expenditures, including salaries, for the City of Harahan, a municipality in Jefferson Parish. The report includes information on comparable Louisiana cities.
Overview This report analyzes the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) procurement process for private operation and management of its water and sewer systems. In this study BGR addresses two basic questions: (1) Is the S&WB’s proposed procurement structured in a way that maximizes competition and otherwise protects the interests of the citizens […]
Overview This edition of BGR’s Outlook series discusses the financial challenges facing the Jefferson Parish Public School System and the current academic performance of its schools.
Overview This report presents BGR’s analysis of the Downtown Development District’s tax and bond proposal on the ballot for April 7, 2001 in New Orleans.
Overview This report presents BGR’s analysis of ballot propositions to allow the issuance of general obligation bonds of $150 million by the City of New Orleans and $27 million by the Orleans Parish Law Enforcement District. Although the Criminal Sheriff governs the district, the bond proposal would raise funds for the sheriff, the district attorney […]
Overview In this report, BGR reviews the four proposed changes in the Louisiana constitution that voters will decide on November 7, 2000. The amendments would: (1) authorize the state to establish a corporation to be the state’s principal economic development organization (Louisiana Inc.) and to exempt it from civil service; (2) change state individual income […]
Overview This issue of the Outlook series examines the capital budget process of the City of New Orleans and critiques the implementation of the 1995 voter-approved building program.
In BGR Outlook on Orleans: Privatization of Sewerage and Water Board Operations, BGR reviews the concept of privatizing the operations of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans. It discusses the S&WB’s structure, financial picture and other issues, and then identifies the issues that should be addressed in a privatization process. It does not take […]
Overview This issue of Outlook updates the financial status of the Jefferson Parish Public Schools with a focus on the revised fiscal year 1999 and the adopted fiscal year 2000 operating budgets.
Overview This edition of Outlook provides an overview of Jefferson Parish Government and the Parish’s fiscal outlook, including final general government revenues and expenditures between 1988 and 1997, and an examination of the 1999 Jefferson Parish adopted budget.
In BGR Outlook on Orleans: The Sewerage and Water Board’s Fee Proposal, BGR examines two proposed fees in New Orleans – one for the sewerage system and another for the drainage system.
Overview This is the first report in BGR’s Outlook series on the Orleans Parish School Board. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the Board’s fiscal outlook with a focus on the FY 1999 (July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999) operating budget.
Overview In this issue of Outlook, BGR focuses on one specific area of Jefferson Parish Government—the public works function, which manages streets, water, sewer, drainage and other infrastructure. The purpose of this report is to provide a brief overview of how this department is organized, where it receives its funding and how it spends its […]
Overview This report reviews the City of New Orleans’ property service charge proposal on the ballot for December 5, 1998. The primary intended uses of the new revenues include pay raises for most City employees and for all Orleans Parish public school employees.
Overview This report provides a short analysis of the potential creation of three separate neighborhood-based special tax districts in New Orleans and a recommendation on two proposed amendments to the Louisiana Constitution relative to the governance of higher education. The neighborhood districts will provide additional funding for enhanced security and in some cases, beautification and […]
Overview This report provides a synopsis and short analysis of all 18 proposed amendments to the Louisiana Constitution on the October 3, 1998, election ballot. The topics include assessment freezes for senior citizens and properties undergoing restoration, as well as parish severance tax allocations and remediation of blighted property: Establishes community college system Increases parish […]
Overview This report provides a short analysis of the proposal to levy a one-mill ad valorem property tax in New Orleans to fund the offices of the Orleans Parish Assessors.
Overview This issue of the BGR Outlook on Jefferson examines the Jefferson Parish School Board’s finances. The 16-page report analyzes the factors leading to recent operating budget deficits and discusses potential solutions.
Overview This report is the fourth in BGR’s program of governmental oversight and monitoring of Jefferson Parish governments. This report provides updated budgetary information on the Parish Council, District Attorney and Sheriff.
Overview This is the first in a new series of reports highlighting the finances of Jefferson Parish local government. It provides an overview of parish general-purpose government revenues and expenditures over the past ten years and comparison of current-year operating budget.
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released a new report today examining the Sewerage & Water Board’s effort to develop a drainage funding proposal that can keep up with New Orleans’ growing needs. At a time when storms are becoming more...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released a report today presenting several ways in which the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center can restructure the public subsidies for its convention headquarters hotel project to save substantial tax dollars....
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released two reports providing independent, nonpartisan analysis to New Orleans voters on propositions in the November 15 election. Early voting begins Saturday, November 1. On the Ballot: $510 Million New Orleans Capital...
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...
New Orleans is at an inflection point. The city is losing businesses and residents, with many saying they simply cannot afford to live here anymore. They point to a wide array of culprits: not enough good jobs, not enough...
That’s the name of the new report just released by independent local research organization Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR). President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray shares the shocking things not required to be included in the budget, why we need to...
The New Orleans City Council is planning to ask the state’s top auditor to examine the city’s finances and provide clarity on the size of its budget deficit after a city budget hearing this week left council members with...
As New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration prepares measures to address the city’s budget deficit, there is confusion over what the shortfall actually is. Officials tossed around various numbers at a City Council budget committee meeting this week, without...
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) issued a new report warning that New Orleans is facing a projected $102.5 million budget shortfall in 2025. BGR urges the mayor and City Council to adopt stronger financial management practices as...
NEW ORLEANS – Before introducing Tim Temple, the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance, BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray kicked off the Sept. 18 BGR Breakfast Briefing by flagging 2 upcoming BGR Reports: Temple: What is Insurance? Introducing the Insurance Commissioner, Mowbray mentioned the rising...
Today, BGR held a Breakfast Briefing with Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple. He shared his outlook for the state’s property insurance markets. With insurance costs continuing to climb in Louisiana, this timely conversation addressed what’s driving the crisis and what...
This audio recording is no longer available. BGR President Rebecca Mowbray discussed a September 11 BGR NOW re-emphasizing key recommendations made this spring to help preserve and strengthen the City of New Orleans’s financial health.
NEW ORLEANS — A report released by a local government watchdog highlights the City of New Orleans’ growing budget deficit, which is on track to top $100 million by the end of the year. “There’s a concern about looming...
The City of New Orleans is at a tipping point. As the races for mayor and City Council heat up, frustrated residents are demanding better City services and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the City’s improved post-pandemic financial position is at serious...
The New Orleans mayoral election comes at a critical juncture for the Sewerage and Water Board, as agency officials warn the board’s distressed infrastructure and uncertain funding pose threats to public safety. As election season shifts into high gear,...
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) won three awards at the national Governmental Research Association conference July 13-16 in Providence, R.I. BGR was honored for Outstanding Policy Achievement for its efforts to encourage the City of New Orleans to meet...
Voters will head to the polls in October to decide New Orleans’ municipal elections, with the seats of the Mayor, City Council and Orleans Parish Sheriff being the major positions up for grabs. In our quest to remain a...
Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, BGR’s June 18 Breakfast Briefing discussed the disaster’s lasting impact on local government reform—and what lessons public officials and citizens can use to inspire future change. This event was free to...
The reform and modernization of local government is a lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina. By envisioning positive change and reforming local government, residents, advocates and policymakers created a better future for Greater New Orleans. BGR is proud to have...
NEW ORLEANS — The trial over millions of dollars the Orleans Parish School Board claims it is owed by the city of New Orleans has been delayed after a judge ruled that an essential party is missing from the...
BATON ROUGE, La. (WVUE) – A proposal to increase Louisiana’s homestead exemption for the first time in more than four decades is gaining traction at the State Capitol. The measure, authored by Rep. Matt Willard (D-New Orleans), would allow...
With the outcome hinging on just two votes, on May 3, 2025, Orleans Parish voters narrowly approved the renewal of a critical 10-year property tax for the Sheriff’s Office. The final tally stood at 12,715 in favor and 12,713...
By an almost surreal, historically close margin, Orleans Parish voters appeared to hand Sheriff Susan Hutson a huge reprieve Saturday, approving what Hutson described for months as a critical renewal of a tax that funds around a fifth of...
When Congress passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021, it allocated $350 billion in assistance to state and local governments – providing the largest infusion of cash to local governments since the start of...
Signs saying “No New Taxes” and calling for New Orleans residents to vote against a tax renewal have been popping up around the city…but they’re inaccurate. Tommy talks with Rebecca Mowbray and Nate Pabon-Trinidad from the Bureau of Government...
Voters in about half of Louisiana’s parishes will go to the polls Saturday to elect officials and decide on various ballot proposals. Several parishes will hold runoff elections from municipal or special primaries held in March. Others will vote...
Voters in Orleans and Jefferson parishes head to the polls Saturday to make selections on local races and determine how some property tax dollars get spent. Why it matters: Turnout is traditionally pretty low for these hyperlocal elections, so...
Mysterious campaign signs have cropped up around New Orleans that falsely attack a tax renewal from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, leaving Sheriff Susan Hutson scrambling to correct the record before the referendum goes to a vote next Saturday....
On May 3, New Orleans voters face a critical decision: Will we invest in making our city safer, more just, and more humane OR allow vital public safety systems to collapse under the weight of political theater? The ballot...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson held a press conference flanked by supporters to urge New Orleans voters to approve a proposed millage renewal, even as signs positioned around the city suggest opposition. No one has...
Voters in New Orleans are being asked on the May 3 ballot to extend a millage collected by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office for 10 years. We recommend a “yes” vote. The millage is a renewal, so unlike the...
NEW ORLEANS — If you live or work in New Orleans, you’ve probably seen signs saying, “No New Taxes” and urging city voters to reject a property tax on May 3. Those signs and their message are a lie....
Orleans Parish Ballot MeasuresPW Law Enforcement District2.46 Mills Renewal – Sheriff – 10 Yrs. Shall the Sheriff of Orleans Parish, as the governing authority of the Law Enforcement District of the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana (the “District”),...
As New Orleans officials grapple with an April 17 meeting where they literally will argue about whether or not the city faces a budget crisis, they should welcome some new recommendations from the Bureau of Governmental Research, even if...
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR), a private, nonprofit, and independent research organization based in New Orleans, released the report “Improving Financial Management Practices for the City of New Orleans” on April 7, highlighting concerns about...
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who built a multi-billion dollar business and led the nation’s largest city for three terms, has a motto: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The next mayor of New Orleans...
NEW ORLEANS — The Orleans Parish Sheriff is urging voters to renew a current tax mileage on the May 3 ballot. Sheriff Huston says the money from the millage will go toward critical programs, maintenance and staffing. The law...
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson is asking voters in the May municipal elections to renew a 10-year-old tax that provides a significant chunk of the budget for her overcrowded and understaffed jail. Hutson has been attempting to raise more...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released On the Ballot: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office Tax Renewal, May 3, 2025. The report provides an independent, nonpartisan analysis of a proposition to renew an existing 2.46-mill property tax for the...
This recording is no longer available online. Read BGR’s report urging the City of New Orleans to improve its financial management practices.
Listen to Newell Normand’s commentary in response to BGR’s report urging the City of New Orleans to improve its financial management practices.
NEW ORLEANS — After months of unclear back-and-forth from city leaders regarding the city’s financial standing- sparked by the Mayor pulling out of a multimillion dollar settlement with the Orleans Parish School Board- a new report released by the...
New Orleans officials don’t have a long-term plan for the city’s finances or safeguards for the city’s reserves, leaving municipal budgets vulnerable at an “inflection point” in the city’s history, according to a new report from the Bureau of...
The recent dispute about a proposed $90 million legal settlement between the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish School Board has raised concerns about the City’s financial health. It also revealed troubling disagreements within the administration about...
More than 500 local infrastructure projects and repairs were completed in the leadup to Super Bowl LIX, eclipsing a cost of more than $70 million. BGR’s March 26 Breakfast Briefing dove into how this was accomplished, and what lessons...
Today’s Breakfast Briefing, our first of 2025, focused on St. Tammany Parish’s shift from being a part of the New Orleans metropolitan area to becoming its own economic area, called the Slidell–Mandeville–Covington metropolitan statistical area (MSA). This discussion explored...
Early 20th-century novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go home again.” Dorothy Gale, in “The Wizard of Oz,” though, said, “There’s no place like home.” Wolfe was wrong and Dorothy was right. Forty years after starting as a sports...
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) updated its interactive Property Tax Dashboards with the latest rates for Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. The update reveals most millage rates were lowered in Jefferson and...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) has updated its interactive Property Tax Dashboards with the latest rates for Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. First launched at the beginning of 2024, the dashboards help residents, business owners and policymakers...
A government watchdog group has issued guidance that it says City Hall and its partners must follow before dispersing millions of dollars in new, voter-approved funding for affordable housing programs. The Bureau of Governmental Research initially opposed the Housing...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) sent a letter to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and members of the City Council highlighting several ways to strengthen the future use of Housing Trust Fund money. In November, New Orleans...
NEW ORLEANS (Dec. 18, 2024) — Yesterday, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) sent a five-page letter to Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the City Council, offering a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the newly approved...
New Orleans voters on Tuesday (Nov. 5) approved two new amendments to the city’s charter: one that will add a “workers’ bill of rights” and another that will require the city to set aside millions per year in a...
New Orleans is poised to see a massive influx of taxpayer funding for local affordable housing projects after voters approved a charter amendment during Tuesday’s election. Over 75 percent of the city voted “yes” on the amendment, handing supporters...
New Orleans voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed a city affordable housing fund and symbolic support for private sector workers, while Jefferson Parish voters agreed to allow city government to fire certain staffers at will. In an election that also...
As the City Council’s leading advocate on the quest for more affordable housing, District B Councilmember Lesli Harris has a lot at stake in the November 5 Election. Harris is heading up the effort to pass the New Orleans...
Other than the bitterly divisive presidential race, the Nov. 5 ballot features few contested elections in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. In fact, the hottest local item appears to be a proposed City Charter amendment to create permanent local funding...
NEW ORLEANS — City leaders in New Orleans want to allocate a chunk of money from the general fund for affordable housing needs. The proposal is on the ballot in November as Charter Amendment 1. The proposal is to...
NEW ORLEANS — As city and state leaders clash over homeless encampments in New Orleans, Lesli Harris and other city leaders are advocating for a long-term solution that’s already in the works. That solution, the Housing Trust Fund, is...
Proposition one on the ballot is asking New Orleans voters to approve two percent of the city’s general fund to pay for affordable housing. Click here to review BGR’s report on the ballot proposition.
The Bureau of Governmental Research discussed its report, On the Ballot: New Orleans Housing Trust Fund, November 5, 2024 Election, on The Good Morning Show on WBOK 1230 AM. Click here to watch the segment.
While the presidential race is still very much a toss-up, some winners are already certain when the votes are counted in New Orleans on Nov. 5: advocates of affordable housing and persons in need of housing assistance. The New...
I love New Orleans. I love the architecture, the arts, the culture, the food, the music, the people. I love our gumbo population, with its strong Black base. But there’s no denying that some of my city’s neighborhoods have...
It is no secret that New Orleans is facing a housing crisis. Like many other cities across the nation, New Orleans is contending with a decreasing supply of low-cost housing coupled with cost-of-living increases across the board. The city...
Voters in New Orleans will see two proposed city charter amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot, with early voting beginning Friday. Here are the Times-Picayune’s recommendations. Home Rule Charter Amendment No. 1: No The bad news is that New...
Members of the River District consortium and other New Orleans developers are the main financial backers of a November ballot initiative that would direct millions of city tax dollars annually to affordable housing projects. New Orleans developer Louis Lauricella,...
Tommy hears from BGR and from Councilmember Lesli Harris about affordable housing. Click here to listen. Click here to read BGR’s On the Ballot report.
NEW ORLEANS (Oct. 12, 2024) — The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) expressed concern this week regarding a proposed charter amendment in New Orleans that would mandate a minimum annual budget allocation of 2% of the City’s General Fund...
Affordable housing is getting harder to find in New Orleans, and city leaders want to put millions in taxpayer dollars toward solving the issue. Residents will see a question on their ballot on Election Day asking them to vote...
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — New Orleans voters will decide whether to dedicate millions of local tax dollars to affordable housing. The proposition will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. According to a 2024 report from the National Low Income...
NEW ORLEANS (press release) — District ‘B’ Councilmember Lesli Harris, who chairs the Quality of Life Committee and has been an advocate for affordable housing, issued the following statement in response to BGR’s new report on the Housing Trust...
Construction is set to begin on a blighted, century-old firehouse on Louisiana Avenue that will become New Orleans’ first city-owned property to include both affordable housing units and an early childhood education center, city leaders said Wednesday. As part...
NEW ORLEANS (press release) — The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) has released an On the Ballot report analyzing a proposed charter amendment in the Nov. 5 New Orleans election. The proposition would require an annual budget appropriation for...
A good government group has come out in opposition to a plan that would dedicate millions in public funding to affordable housing programs each year if approved by New Orleans voters this November. According to a report released Wednesday...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases an On the Ballot report analyzing a proposed charter amendment in the November 5 New Orleans election. The proposition would require an annual budget appropriation for the City’s Housing Trust Fund equal to at least...
It’s a problem New Orleanians know all too well: Housing costs in the city have skyrocketed in recent years, forcing long-time residents to cheaper suburbs and shrinking the city’s tax base. Past efforts to help people with their rent...
New Orleans’ drainage and power infrastructure has just secured funding for a much needed upgrade that will address the city’s issues with unsafe water and flash flooding. “Frequent boil water advisories and major flash flooding events such as those...
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Amid a simmering political scandal, Jefferson Parish voters bit the bullet in December 2016 and renewed a tax for drainage improvements. But the following year, the Parish Council decided not to raise the tax to...
New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board Director Ghassan Korban said Tuesday the city’s pumping and drainage system is in a “good place” ahead of Francine. Ninety of 99 drainage pumps are working across its 24 pumping stations, he said,...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research hosted its fourth and final Breakfast Briefing of the year. Our speaker was Ghassan Korban, Executive Director of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. Mr. Korban provided an update on the...
Five years after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell struck a historic deal to direct tourism-related taxes to city infrastructure needs, a good government watchdog finds that her “fair share” arrangement has delivered needed recurring funding for critical infrastructure projects. The...
This article is no longer available online. Please review BGR’s report here: https://www.bgr.org/report-index/bgr-analyzes-impact-of-fair-share-deal-for-new-orleans-infrastructure/
NEW ORLEANS — This week, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR), a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use of public resources, released a detailed report assessing the impact of the...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research released a report analyzing the impact of the 2019 “Fair Share” deal to direct new tourism dollars to maintain streets, drainage and other infrastructure in New Orleans. BGR finds that the deal between the City...
THUMBS UP The Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonprofit public policy watchdog based in New Orleans, recently won three awards at the Governmental Research Association national conference. BGR won two awards for communications as well as the Most Distinguished...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) won three awards from its peer organizations in the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference July 21-23 in Asheville, N.C. BGR’s 2023 report calling for governance reforms for the Sewerage and...
A city of New Orleans agency that’s responsible for tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks is in need of a standardized and transparent set of policies for determining which projects should receive the incentives, according to a...
There are just less than 200 days to go until New Orleans hosts Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025, and there are still hundreds of items left to tackle on the combined city and state checklists. Why it matters: There’s one...
Renata Young blocks her front door with sandbags when it rains. During a recent downpour, the water near her home in Treme was pooled ankle-high above each of the block’s four overwhelmed catch basins. More than three years ago,...
Today, BGR presented a Breakfast Briefing entitled “French Quarter in Focus: A Conversation on the State of the Vieux Carré as New Orleans Prepares to Host Super Bowl LIX.” BGR’s President and CEO Becky Mowbray moderated a conversation with...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s oversight board OK’d a new proposal Wednesday that could finally make a “headquarters” hotel a reality after more than a decade of failed attempts. However, the proposed hotel would not be built on...
After years of handwringing over how to spruce up its unsightly and often unsafe drainage canals, Jefferson Parish is testing out a new strategy: camouflaging them with trees. The parish has identified 18 locations on its east bank where...
Last Wednesday’s severe weather overwhelmed Jefferson Parish’s drainage infrastructure, causing widespread street flooding — and for the first time in at least a decade — the overtopping of canals. But unlike New Orleans, where floodwaters swamped businesses and vehicles,...
Today, BGR presented a Breakfast Briefing with Cynthia Lee Sheng, Jefferson Parish President, and Mark Drewes, Director of the Jefferson Parish Department of Public Works, who discussed upgrading aging infrastructure in Jefferson Parish. This event was free to the...
On April 4, 2024, BGR provided research-based guidance to New Orleans City Council leaders as they review economic development incentive programs. Our letter to the council president and vice president draws on our extensive body of work on property...
METAIRIE, La. — The Bureau of Governmental Research is hosting a “breakfast briefing” from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on April 16 at the Sheraton Hotel at 4 Galleria Boulevard in Metairie. BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray will...
After focusing on “the frequent failures” of the city’s Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, Gov. Jeff Landry’s task force released recommendations to improve the city’s water and drainage services. “If there were a citywide confidence/no confidence vote...
A New Orleans lawmaker late Tuesday submitted a bill that would make sweeping changes to how the Sewerage & Water Board is governed, shifting power from Mayor LaToya Cantrell towards state and local officials who would temporarily oversee reforms...
A New Orleans-based lawmaker filed legislation late Tuesday to dismiss the local overseers of the beleaguered Sewerage and Water Board in favor of a temporary board made up of state and local officials, a drastic step recommended by Gov....
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The man in charge of the day-to-day operations of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board told the City Council on Tuesday (April 2) that he objects to an oversight board proposed by Gov. Jeff...
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research is raising what they call significant concerns with a proposed plan to overhaul the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. Gov. Jeff Landry appointed a task force to create a plan...
In early 2024, Gov. Jeff Landry formed a Task Force to review the billing, governing structure, and management and organizational structure of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. Click the links below to access BGR’s comments to...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The task force appointed by Governor Jeff Landry to look at the myriad of issues with Sewerage and Water Board released its final, 24-page report detailing potential solutions to issues with billing, infrastructure maintenance, drainage,...
Gov. Jeff Landry’s task force to reform the long-troubled New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board met for the third and final time on Thursday, and the overall remedy that members seemed to most agree on won’t shock anyone: the...
Tommy talks to Becky Mowbray, President and CEO of BGR, about the Sewerage and Water Board, its governance problems, and BGR’s recommendations.
Outrageous water bills, flood-damaged property and unpaid court judgments were among the many frustrations about the Sewerage and Water Board rattled off by residents Thursday evening at the second public meeting of Gov. Jeff Landry’s task force to reform...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Governor Jeff Landry’s special task force examining issues with the Sewerage and Water Board met for the second time Thursday evening to discuss billing and governance, and to hear from the public for the first...
New Orleans City Council members are pressing forward with plans to enshrine an unprecedented local investment in affordable housing into the City Charter, a move aimed at expanding programs to help first-time homebuyers, rehab rental units and provide financial...
Click the video on this webpage to watch the news story. Click here to explore BGR’s recommendations on improving the governance of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. Scroll down to the bottom of that page to...
In his latest move to reshape New Orleans, Gov. Jeff Landry is launching a task force to investigate what he called “the frequent failures” of the Sewerage & Water Board and propose broad changes to the long-derided utility that...
The idea of having an official convention hotel right next to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has been around for many years. There have been several concepts and plenty of pro and con arguments. Now there’s an updated...
To help explain these taxes, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) launched an interactive, online tool.
About an hour north of Jackson, Miss. the Justice Department is investigating a small town’s police force. The allegations? Unlawful stops, retaliation, racist roadblocks and excessive force. As the Gulf States Newsroom’s Kat Stromquist reports, residents still worry they...
NEW ORLEANS — Just days after an intense rainstorm caused yet another round of flooding, a push is under way to collect stormwater fees from nearly every property owner in the city — including those with exemptions who haven’t...
BGR President and CEO Becky Mowbray discussed our new Property Tax Dashboards on WWL Radio with host Tommy Tucker. Although the audio clip is no longer available online, you can click here to explore the dashboards.
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: Property taxes are a basic means of financing local government, but the public faces a confusing array of tax rates, taxing bodies and dedicated purposes across the New Orleans region....
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Bureau of Governmental Research released a new online dashboard designed to help residents in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes better understand their property taxes. According to the BGR, the dashboard serves as an...
Property taxes are a basic means of financing local government, but the public faces a confusing array of tax rates, taxing bodies and dedicated purposes across the New Orleans region. To help explain these taxes, the Bureau of Governmental...
After two recent whiffs in persuading the City Council to approve new revenue proposals, the Sewerage & Water Board is preparing yet another pitch to raise money for nearly $1 billion in deferred drainage upgrades. This time, utility officials...
After several failed attempts to build a new hotel at the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, officials are again in talks with a major hotel group interested in reviving the project, according to CEO Michael...
For the first time in nearly three years, New Orleans has a permanent public works director after the City Council this week confirmed Clinton “Rick” Hathaway to oversee key city infrastructure issues that have caused heartburn among residents. Hathaway,...
Since Jeff Landry won the Louisiana governor’s race, New Orleans political circles have been abuzz with the question of what the relationship might look like between the Democratic city and the Republican governor-elect. Eyebrows raised last month ago when...
The New Orleans City Council approved the city’s $1.57 billion budget on Friday, greenlighting most of the spending that Mayor LaToya Cantrell proposed for 2024. That budget, along with an additional $56 million in spending on a variety of...
The New Orleans City Council is set to approve most of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s proposed $1.57 billion city budget on Friday, with pay raises on the way for New Orleans police, more money set aside in a “rainy day”...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: At the end of this week, the New Orleans City Council will reset property tax rates based on the recent rise in property assessments. The Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB)...
In a November 28 letter to the New Orleans City Council, BGR expressed concern that the council does not have a formal process to evaluate funding requests from the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB). The lack...
The River District development formally got underway on Wednesday, with New Orleans and Louisiana officials gathering in the shadow of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to shovel the first dirt for a $1 billion new neighborhood on the...
Housing advocates and City Council members were surprised when they opened up Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s proposed 2024 budget to find a line item they’d worked long and hard for missing. Staffing to enforce new tenant protections and landlord accountability...
Mayor LaToya Cantrell wants to tackle some of New Orleans’ most stubborn issues over the next year: public safety, infrastructure and improving residents’ quality of life. But anyone looking for major new initiatives from the mayor who has two...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: New Orleans voters will head to the polls on Saturday to vote in several prominent races, including one for Louisiana’s next governor. But they will also decide three important local...
Saturday’s elections for statewide and parish offices along with a number of other ballot initiatives will be the culmination of many months of hard work and millions of dollar spent by candidates, their supporters and public and quasi-public agencies...
Louisianans head to the polls Saturday to vote in the gubernatorial primary. Why it matters: Just about every statewide office is up for grabs, so voters will make a big impact on the state’s direction for the next several...
BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray discussed BGR’s renewed call for the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish Sheriff to develop a cooperative agreement to fund the Orleans Justice Center, the parish jail. Audio recording is not...
BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray discussed BGR’s reports on the October 14, 2023, ballot propositions with WWL Radio host Tommy Tucker. Audio recording not available online.
New Orleans voters heading to the polls Oct. 14 will punch ballots for governor, the legislature and several other state and local elected positions. They’ll also see three citywide ballot measures, one aimed at renewing tax funding for school...
As New Orleanians focus on whether the City Council will confirm Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s choice for the permanent police chief position, they might also look closely at who’s going to fix their streets. As of Thursday, New Orleans didn’t...
This year, Louisiana voters are once again being asked to weigh in on a number of policy issues. At the state level, lawmakers have proposed four amendments to the Louisiana constitution, while here in Orleans Parish voters will be...
Election day is almost here. And there is more on the ballot than candidates running for office. Voters in many municipalities are also being asked to consider ballot measures related to local governance. In the city of New Orleans,...
There’s a changing of the guard at the Department of Public Works, Sarah McLaughlin-Porteous, who took over a little more than a year ago, resigned Sept. 6. “It was really a personal decision. I had a goal that when...
Excerpt: PW HRC Amendment Prop. No. 1 of 2 – Art. VI, Sec. 6-102 & 6-104 – CCShall Article VI, Sections 6-102 and 6-104 of the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans be amended to move...
Orleans Parish School Board facilities millage renewal: Yes In the grueling recovery from Hurricane Katrina, the $1.8 billion lump sum settlement with FEMA to rebuild New Orleans schools was a high point. Saddled before the storm with facilities so...
Today, BGR presented “Rebuilding Our Infrastructure, Making New Orleans Resilient,” a Breakfast Briefing to discuss progress on New Orleans’ citywide street improvement program. Joseph W. Threat, Sr., and Sarah McLaughlin Porteous, public works leaders for the City of New...
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research has published a report calling on the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office to resolve a long-running disagreement over funding for the parish jail. The dispute flared last fall...
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — As the New Orleans City Council prepares its 2024 budget, the Bureau of Governmental Research has released a report about a longstanding dispute over funding for the Orleans Parish Prison. According to the report, the...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) published a report today calling on the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office to resolve a long-running disagreement over funding for the parish jail. The dispute flared anew last fall...
Click here to watch the video, and here to visit the BGR webpage for this report.
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: On Sept. 21, the Bureau of Governmental Research released three On the Ballot reports for the October 14 election. The reports are intended to help New Orleans voters make informed decisions...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases three On the Ballot reports for the October 14 election. The reports are intended to help New Orleans voters make informed decisions on three separate propositions: a property tax renewal for...
Spanish Plaza, the public space at the foot of Canal Street that New Orleans officials have long worried was neglected and underused, would get a new event space for musicians and other improvements through a new, tax-funded plan working...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) won two awards from the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference July 24-26 in Worcester, Mass. BGR’s 2022 report calling for governance reforms for the Orleans Parish jail received the Most...
The Bureau of Governmental Research has published Spanish and Vietnamese translations of its recent report summaries on the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans in an effort to reach more residents concerned about the utility’s governance issues. This...
The New Orleans City Council on Thursday asked state authorities to review whether Assessor Erroll Williams’ office properly conducted a recent citywide reassessment, citing findings that the assessor used “sales chasing” during the last quadrennial assessment. Williams has long...
Orleans Tax Assessor Erroll Williams took part in a Q&A session with the New Orleans city council on property assessments. Williams said he disagrees with a Bureau of Governmental Research reports that said he assigns property values by chasing...
Following a 23 percent spike in citywide property values in a recent property tax reassessment, the New Orleans City Council — along with a few other local agencies that collect property taxes including the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and...
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research has released Spanish and Vietnamese translations of a new report about the future of the Sewerage and Water Board. BGR’s goal is to reach a broader audience of residents concerned about significant...
New Orleans residents concerned about the future of the Sewerage and Water Board, but whose primary language is Spanish or Vietnamese, can now access translated summaries of the Bureau of Governmental Research’s new report on this topic. BGR’s goal...
The citywide assessment of New Orleans property values is set to give homeowners sticker shock this month as they receive letters from the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office showing a potentially huge jump in property taxes. Assessor Erroll Williams said...
If you’ve opened your letter from the Orleans assessor’s office, you may have experienced a bit of sticker shock. Property values are reassessed every four years, and this time they have gone up for many homeowners. So, what you...
The New Orleans City Council on Thursday approved $32 million for a new affordable housing fund, nearly doubling the financing assistance available to developers planning large multifamily projects across the city. City officials say the additional subsidies are needed...
Becky Mowbray and Stephen Stuart join Tommy to talk about how the city is spending the money from the General Fund Reserve. Click here to listen to the interview.
The New Orleans City Council on Thursday (May 25) approved a city spending plan for more than $120 million — almost all of which comes from federal COVID pandemic relief funds. The money is going to a wide range...
There are wonders of the ancient world. There are wonders of the modern world. There are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are also Civil Engineering Historic Landmarks, a designation given by the American Society of Civil Engineers to recognize...
The New Orleans City Council is set to vote Thursday (May 25) on a plan to spend tens of millions in city surplus dollars on city vehicles, affordable housing and assorted other projects as well as the last $54...
Inevitably, impossibly, New Orleans lives with water. “With,” though, is a flexible term that, for more than 100 years, has been substantially informed by an engineering marvel: the city’s drainage system. Administered primarily by the Sewage and Water Board...
Joe Giarrusso joins Tommy to talk about the Sewerage and Water Board and the changes it’s going to see. Click here to listen to the interview. To access BGR’s report on the S&WB that they discuss in the interview,...
Click the video above to listen to the interview. To access BGR’s report, click here.
Rebecca Mowbray and Jamie Parker joins Newell to talk about (BGR) publishing a report earlier this week, called “Waterworks in Progress: Reassessing the Sewerage & Water Board’s Governance Problems and Potential Paths to Long-Term Improvement.’ Click here to listen...
Becky Mowbray and Stephen Stuart join Tommy to talk about the New Orleans S&WB and how their issues need changes. Click here to listen to the interview. To access BGR’s report, visit this page on our website.
NEW ORLEANS — On May 17, the Bureau of Governmental Research released a report that says the Sewerage & Water Board has got to change its ways. The entity’s current governance structure is preventing the S&WB from resolving the...
In a scathing new report, New Orleans watchdog group the Bureau of Governmental Research called for a complete overhaul of the governance structure of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board. The report, released Wednesday (May 17), blames the...
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research, a nonpartisan independent research group, released a 52-page report outlining what they believe is coming between the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and better service. But will the solutions...
The New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board is overseen by a board controlled by the mayor. Its funding is determined by the City Council, and it is regulated by the Louisiana Legislature’s laws. That serving of three masters is...
Click image to watch this report. Click here to access BGR’s report.
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research says the way that Sewerage and Water Board is governed is creating key problems for the city’s water, sewer and drainage systems. BGR’s latest report states that the S&WB’s current governance...
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research, a research nonprofit, released its findings on the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, proposing a multitude of changes to the board’s governance and structure. BGR highlighted three key points in...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The Sewerage and Water Board is hamstrung by bureaucratic inefficiencies and competing interests, and will continue struggling unless its “flawed” governance structure is reconfigured, a nonprofit analyst group said in a report issued Wednesday (May...
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases a new report that connects the flawed governance structure of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB) to key problems affecting the city’s water, sewer and drainage systems. Highlights...
Standing before a gymnasium full of angry residents at the Avondale Playground in October, Jefferson Parish Council member Byron Lee made a pledge. “If you need uniforms, call my office,” he said. “If you need playground equipment, call my...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: In an April 28 letter to the Jefferson Parish Council, BGR recommends ways in which the council can improve planning and public reporting for one-time spending made possible by the receipt of...
In an April 28 letter to the Jefferson Parish Council, BGR recommends ways in which the council can improve planning and public reporting for one-time spending made possible by the receipt of federal pandemic relief funds through the American Rescue Plan...
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson’s proposal to double her office’s property tax millage didn’t just go down to defeat on April 29. Voters opposed her proposition by the largest margin in memory — 91% voted against it. That’s more...
New Orleanians of every stripe can all agree on maybe just a few things. Crawfish are good. Potholes are bad. The refs have it in for the Saints. Saturday’s election results may add another item to the list. More...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Voters in Orleans and St. Tammany parishes overwhelmingly rejected property tax hikes Saturday (April 29) that had been championed by Sheriff Susan Hutson and Coroner Dr. Charles Preston, respectively. A measure to nearly double the...
New Orleans on Saturday delivered a nearly unanimous rejection of a proposal from Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson to nearly double a tax her office collects, the latest in a series of setbacks for Hutson that comes almost a...
Voters are going to the polls across Southeast Louisiana today consider tax issues and a handful of races. Elections got underway this morning in Orleans, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, and St. John the Baptist parishes. New Orleans voters are deciding...
New Orleans voters will decide the fate Saturday of a tax proposition that would nearly double the tax collected by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. The tax call in New Orleans highlights an otherwise slim ballot across the metro...
Tomorrow is the first Saturday of Jazz Fest. It’s also Election Day in New Orleans — but we doubt very many voters will queue up to cast a ballot. That’s too bad, because Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson is...
PW Law Enforcement District5.5 Mills In-Lieu – Sheriff – 10 Yrs.Shall the Law Enforcement District of the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana (the “District”), levy a tax of 5.5 mills on all property subject to taxation in the...
On April 21, 2023, BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray and Research Analyst Paul Rioux discussed BGR’s report, On the Ballot: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office Tax, April 29, 2023, with Dr. Torin Sanders on The Good Morning Show on...
The International Association of Chiefs of Police has been conducting meetings across New Orleans this week to receive public comment on what citizens want to see in their next police Chief. NOLA Messenger queried more than a dozen residents...
NEW ORLEANS — On April 29, property owners in Orleans Parish will have to decide on a millage that would increase property taxes to better staffing and conditions at the Orleans Parish jail. If approved, the millage would increase...
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— May 2 will mark one year since Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson took office and Thursday, she reflected on her first year. “In the first week, we had an officer-involved shooting. We had a fake escape,...
Newell speaks with Rebecca Mowbray and Paul Rioux of BGR about Sheriff Susan Hutson’s push for higher property taxes to increase her agency’s budget being too vague. Click this WWL Radio link to listen to the segment. Click here...
Independent watchdog group Bureau of Governmental Research says they are against the millage to increase property taxes to fund jail.
NEW ORLEANS — The Bureau of Governmental Research has issued a report that does not support the recent proposed tax increase from the Orleans Parish Sheriff. Voters will decide whether or not to nearly double a $2.8 million tax...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: On April 19, BGR released a report intended to help Orleans Parish voters make an informed decision on whether to nearly double a 2.8-mill tax for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office by...
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson’s proposal to nearly double a tax her office collects is premature, skirts the practices of other large parishes and remains short on details just 10 days ahead of the April 29 referendum, an independent...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Sheriff Susan Hutson’s push for higher property taxes to increase her agency’s budget should be rejected by voters because her plans for spending the windfall are too vague, a non-partisan New Orleans policy research group...
ORLEANS PARISH, La. (WGNO) — “What is the timeline for all these investments? Why are they priorities? Which ones are the biggest priorities on here? I don’t really know,” questioned Becky Mowbray. She’s the president and CEO of the...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases a new report, On the Ballot: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office Tax, April 29, 2023. The report is intended to help Orleans Parish voters make an informed decision on whether to nearly...
Just a few months after the New Orleans City Council rejected Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson’s request for a $13 million budget hike, Hutson is again seeking millions in new funding. This time, the proposal has flown below the...
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans East is getting some much-needed funding for some big projects. Councilman Oliver Thomas announced on social media this weekend that extra cash from the American Rescue Plan Act will be heading to New Orleans...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – As residents complained about garbage left to rot on the streets for weeks, the company contracted to collect that trash in several neighborhoods was pleading with the city of New Orleans to fully pay the...
When the New Orleans City Council passed a massive, $262 million amendment to the 2023 budget in the waning hours before a Dec. 1 deadline, local activists were surprised. There’d been no formal notice that Mayor LaToya Cantrell and...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: On Dec. 13, BGR released a new report that shows how the City of New Orleans has used the first half ($194 million) of its federal relief funds to weather...
A new report from the local think tank the Bureau of Governmental Research analyzed how New Orleans has managed the $388 million in federal COVID relief funds it received through the America Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. The central...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) highlighted a new report on the City of New Orleans’ uses of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds in a webinar on December 14 on Zoom. The federal government has provided state...
A new report from the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) takes a closer look at the impacts of the City of New Orleans’ federal pandemic relief funds on its finances and budget priorities. Managing the Windfall: Tracking the City of...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s management is making a renewed push for a riverfront hotel, arguing that a strong rebound in the hospitality sector this year helps underpin the project’s prospects for success. The center on Monday made...
After more than a year of negotiations, the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority Board has a development agreement for River District Neighborhood Investors LLC to move forward on a $1 billion mixed-use development and entertainment district...
A headquarter hotel for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, planned prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and shelved as a shutdown of the city began, will be revived for discussion at a Sept. 21 board meeting, according...
Awards The Bureau of Governmental Research has received two research awards from the Governmental Research Association. BGR received a Certificate of Merit for Distinguished Research on a Local Government Issue for its method of analyzing local tax propositions in its “On...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) hosted a Breakfast Briefing in Jefferson Parish about “Preparing Jefferson for Future Storms: What Hurricane Ida Taught Us About Response, Recovery and Resiliency.” This event, which was held at Copeland Tower Living...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: BGR received two research awards from the Governmental Research Association at a national conference held last month in Philadelphia. In addition, BGR recently welcomed Melanie Bronfin as a new member of its...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) recently received two research awards from the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference held last month in Philadelphia. In addition, BGR recently welcomed Ms. Melanie Bronfin as a new member of...
Over on Webster Street, Ellis Arjmand can’t drive to his house without going the wrong way down the one-way road thanks to a giant hole in the middle of the intersection at Webster and Perrier. He’s been watching the...
Voters in New Orleans on Saturday approved a property tax measure aimed at creating 1,000 or more early childhood seats for low-income children. Support for the 20-year, 5-mill tax ran at 61% to 39% with all 351 precincts reporting,...
New Orleans voters will see just one item on Saturday’s ballot: a millage proposal to fund early childhood education. We break down what you need to know before you head to the polls. Dates, times and locations to knowElection...
New Orleans voters are being asked this month to approve a property tax to create 1,000 or more early childhood seats for low-income children under age 4. Supporters cast the April 30 ballot proposition as a transformational plan to...
Voters in three area parishes are being asked to enact new taxes on April 30; early voting begins Saturday. We understand that it might seem odd to ask voters to raise taxes in 2022, when governments are bulging with...
NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research: BGR has released a new report intended to help New Orleans voters make an informed decision on whether to approve a new 5-mill, 20-year property tax dedicated to programs and capital investments...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases a new report, On the Ballot: Early Childhood Education Property Tax, New Orleans, April 30, 2022. The report is intended to help New Orleans voters make an informed decision on whether...
A preliminary agreement between the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and the master developer selected to transform 39 acres upriver from the facility into a mixed-use neighborhood could be finalized in the next few months. Michael Sawaya, president of...
CINCINNATI — It would be difficult to prove the Cincinnati Bengals’ Super Bowl run had a positive impact on the local economy. But Chris Rose has receipts to prove its impact at Sinners & Saints Tavern on Riverside Drive....
A local property tax dedicated to affordable housing and blight reduction is set to expire at the end of the year, after a majority of New Orleans voters rejected a ballot proposition to renew it earlier this month. The...
Today, Governor John Bel Edwards joined the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) for a Virtual Breakfast Briefing to discuss his key priorities for 2022 and the potential impacts of new federal funding for Louisiana. Click here or on the...
When Marlin Gusman was elected to the New Orleans City Council more than two decades ago, Oliver Thomas was already there. Their paths would diverge, with Gusman moving up to run the city’s jail for 17 years as sheriff...
New Orleans voters approved a ballot measure to fund the Public Library system on Saturday, but a second tax proposition — to pay for an affordable housing and blight elimination fund — was narrowly defeated. Property owners have already...
New Orleans voters on Saturday narrowly rejected the renewal of a 0.91-mill property tax housing programs that had been in effect since 1991. The “no” vote prevailed with less than 51%, and the 940-vote difference amounted to 1.7% of...
New Orleans voters will head to the polls on Saturday with four City Council seats at stake along with a hotly contested race for Orleans Parish sheriff. Live election results: New Orleans sheriff, St. Tammany casino and more In...
Public library millage renewal: Yes In 2020, voters soundly rejected a complicated property tax swap that would have cut deeply into the New Orleans Public Library system’s bottom line. We too were skeptical that this vital institution could do...
New Orleans voters will decide Saturday whether to renew a tax that largely funds the city’s public library system, roughly a year after they rejected a tax plan that would have cut library funding. The 4-mill tax on Saturday’s...
New Orleans residents will head to the polls on Saturday to decide whether to renew two existing property taxes that expire at the end of the year — one that brings in roughly $10 million per year for the...
New Orleans voters will decide Saturday whether to continue paying a $4 million property tax for housing assistance. The 0.91-mill levy is relatively small compared to other citywide property taxes, but housing advocates say it provides important financing to...
New Orleans voters will consider two property tax proposals Saturday, one dedicated to the city’s library system and the other for a key housing fund. Both are intended to replace existing millages that expired at the end of the...
The Bureau of Governmental Research has published its report on two tax propositions under consideration in the New Orleans city elections taking place on December 11th. One proposition would help fund the New Orleans Library System, and the other...
Last year, New Orleans voters soundly rejected a complicated property tax swap that would have cut deeply into the New Orleans Public Library system’s bottom line. We too were skeptical that this vital institution could do more with less....
Early voting in the Dec. 11 runoff elections for New Orleans City Council, Sheriff and Clerk of Criminal Court begins Saturday, and voters will also weigh in on tax propositions for the New Orleans Public Library and housing. The...
Early voting for the Dec. 11 municipal runoff begins Nov. 27 in the (thankfully) final election of the year. Voter turnout tends to be pitifully low in December elections, even when the stakes are high. This year’s election will...
New Orleans voters will find themselves inside a voting booth for the second month in a row this December, with two millages and six runoff races to decide on. The quick turnaround from the Nov. 13 election coupled with...
A prominent government watchdog group is recommending New Orleans voters renew one expiring property tax on the Dec. 11 ballot but reject another. In a report published Monday, the Bureau of Government Research supports renewing a 4-mill tax for...
The nonpartisan think tank the Bureau of Governmental Research released a new report on Monday with a split decision on the two property tax renewals that New Orleans voters will decide on during the Dec. 11 election. BGR is...
A nonpartisan policy group is split on its opinion of two tax proposals New Orleans voters will consider Dec. 11. The Bureau of Governmental Research issued a report Monday in which it supports a 20-year property tax that benefits...
BGR has released a new report that analyzes proposed 20-year property taxes for public libraries and housing that New Orleans voters will decide in the Dec. 11 election. The report is intended to help voters in New Orleans make...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases a new report that analyzes proposed 20-year property taxes for public libraries and housing that New Orleans voters will decide in the December 11 election. Each tax would replace an existing...
After years of doing taxes the same way, Louisiana voters beginning Saturday are being asked to decide if the state should head in a different direction. Forty-three parishes, like Orleans, are choosing local leadership or deciding propositions, like East...
A tax agreement signed Thursday with the French Quarter Management District marked the final step toward resuming enhanced police patrols in the Vieux Carré and seemingly ended a contentious process over the past 1½ years. But the agreement includes...
NEW ORLEANS – From the Bureau of Governmental Research: Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) published a new report raising concerns about the New Orleans City Council’s recent decision to exclude hotel room rentals from the sales tax...
In August, the New Orleans City Council excluded hotel room rentals from a new sales tax for enhanced public safety in the French Quarter despite questions about whether the exclusion is permissible under state law. While BGR has not...
A special sales tax to fund supplemental police patrols in the French Quarter will be reinstated starting in October after expiring at the end of 2020. The tax was approved by voters in an April ballot measure and was...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s plans for a riverfront hotel crumbled in October when its financial backers pulled out, citing worries about the long-term health of the city’s tourism industry amid the pandemic. Less than a year later,...
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 the next few years. BGR recently discussed the need...
NEW ORLEANS – 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 the next few years. BGR recently...
Orleans Parish voters will decide in November whether to renew two property taxes that expire at the end of the year — one for the public library system and another for affordable housing and blight initiatives. It appears likely...
A quarter-cent sales tax in the French Quarter, approved by residents of the historic neighborhood earlier this year through a ballot measure, was meant to go into effect on July 1. But that date has come and gone. And...
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Governmental Research has released guidance for government entities planning how to spend federal pandemic relief funds. The nonprofit watchdog said governments have “substantial flexibility” in spending the federal dollars, which creates a “rare...
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 on harnessing the opportunities presented by unprecedented federal funding to...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – In order to fund the “Blue Light Patrols” in the Quarter, the reinstatement of the quarter-cent sales tax is back on the ballot after the initial renewal failed in December. Because of pandemic losses, the...
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Governmental Research is weighing in against a proposition for a 0.245% sales tax to pay for supplemental police patrols and other public safety services in the French Quarter. The measure will go before...
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)– For our viewers heading to the polls this weekend, there’s a new report out that you should know about before casting your ballot. The French Quarter Sales Tax is on Saturday’s ballot and the report from the Bureau of Governmental...
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases On the Ballot: French Quarter Sales Tax, April 24, 2021. The report is intended to help French Quarter voters make an informed decision on a proposition to authorize a new 0.2495% sales...
NEW ORLEANS – On March 23, the Bureau of Governmental Research kicked off its 2021 Breakfast Briefing Series with “The Vision for St. Tammany Parish,” a conversation among three parish leaders about balancing economic development and quality of life....
Yesterday, the Bureau of Governmental Research kicked off its 2021 Breakfast Briefing Series with “The Vision for St. Tammany Parish,” a conversation among three parish leaders about balancing economic development and quality of life. Speaking via Zoom webinar were...
Earlier this week, Mayor Cantrell’s Director of Strategic Initiatives Joshua Cox had a press conference wherein he accused the French Quarter Management District of not being able to administer their task force program, and of mismanaging funds. Newell invited...
The battle over security patrols in the French Quarter continues, with Mayor Cantrell’s administration remaining at odds with the French Quarter Management District (FQMD) on how previously-collected tax monies should be spent. The FQMD is currently responsible for funding...
A New Orleans City Council committee was set to consider Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s most recent nominee for the New Orleans Public Library Board of Directors on Thursday, but after an outpouring of public criticism, the nomination was put on...
NEW ORLEANS — A member of the New Orleans Public Library Board of Directors blasted the city’s library director at a board meeting Tuesday, accusing him of “spreading misinformation … and basically lies” about Proposition 2, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) hosted a virtual Breakfast Briefing featuring Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng. She discussed “Leading Jefferson Parish Today and Tomorrow: Reflections on 2020, Managing the Pandemic, and Future Priorities.” Following her presentation,...
Today, BGR releases this BGR NOW supporting three policy changes up for consideration by the Orleans Parish School Board that would strengthen NOLA Public Schools’ financial accountability measures and support the district’s financial sustainability. The changes address financial oversight...
We find ourselves in the uncomfortable, but necessarily so, position of having to start this week’s Commentary with an apology. In late November, Gambit endorsed Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s millage proposals, most notably her controversial library millage plan. This was...
The voters in Orleans Parish spoke quite clearly Saturday when they rejected three millage proposals that Mayor LaToya Cantrell strongly pushed. I suspect the mayor isn’t hearing what they’re saying, at least not yet. There were plenty of complaints...
In Orleans Parish, multiple property tax measures were on the Dec. 5 ballot. New Orleans overwhelmingly rejected Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s near-term fiscal strategy Saturday when they voted down three property tax dedication changes as well as a French Quarter...
New Orleans voters roundly defeated all three of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s tax proposals just days after she had warned that their failure could lead to the city implementing layoffs instead of the proposed furloughs that already figure to dramatically...
New Orleans voters on Saturday rejected a package of ballot propositions put forward by Mayor LaToya Cantrell that would have changed how the city spent roughly $23 million a year in property taxes. The plan would have cut roughly...
NEW ORLEANS — City leaders in New Orleans are calling on residents to approve three propositions on Saturday, which all deal with taxes set to expire at the end of next year. The first deals with funding infrastructure and...
ORLEANS PARISH, LA. — Orleans Parish voters will have to decide on three millage propositions at the polls. These propositions focus on infrastructure, housing and economic development, and early childhood education. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell says voters need...
NEW ORLEANS — Facing significant opposition to her proposed cut to public libraries and to separate tax increases for infrastructure and economic development, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Friday that if three propositions on Saturday’s ballot fail, she may have...
There are three parish-wide millage propositions on the ballot for Orleans Parish residents this weekend. One has to do with maintenance and infrastructure, another has to do with library funding and early childhood education. A third has to do...
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell threatened to lay off city employees unless voters extend three property taxes Saturday. If the millages are not renewed, she said during a virtual town hall meeting Thursday evening, City Hall would “immediately have...
NEW ORLEANS — Saturday’s tax proposition in the French Quarter just picked up a heavyweight endorsement from one of the neighborhood’s most well-known residents. New Orleans entrepreneur Sidney Torres is financing a last-minute media campaign in support of the...
In Orleans Parish, multiple property tax measures are on the Dec. 5 ballot. Proposition 1 funds infrastructure, including roadwork. A yes vote for Proposition 1 would replace two existing property taxes with a new special tax. The existing millage...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Mayor LaToya Cantrell says there is a lot riding on three millages this Saturday. Proposition One is a renewal of a infrastructure and maintenance fund tax. Proposition Two is a restructured library tax which would...
Dr. Gabriel Morley, the director of the New Orleans Public Library, said at a Wednesday morning press conference that he had seen no written plan for how the library would adjust to a 40 percent budget cut being proposed...
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases On the Ballot: French Quarter Sales Tax Renewal, December 5, 2020. The report is intended to help French Quarter voters make an informed decision on a proposition to renew a 0.2495%...
NEW ORLEANS— In addition to deciding the next district attorney, voters in Orleans Parish will decide issues that affect their wallets. There are three propositions the city is asking voters to renew. In an exclusive interview with WGNO News,...
The future of New Orleans’ publicly funded childcare program is now tied to a controversial tax proposal that slashes the library’s budget by 40 percent. Proposition 2 reduces the existing property tax dedicated to the city’s public library system,...
Newell talks to Research Director Stephen Stuart about what voters will see on their ballots in the Dec 5 election. The discussion focuses on the New Orleans property tax propositions on the ballot.
In recent weeks, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has ramped up her campaign to convince voters to approve a plan to reallocate millions of dollars in property taxes, which will appear as three separate ballot propositions on the Dec....
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 services and functions receive. The...
Mayor LaToya Cantrell is asking New Orleans voters to approve three interrelated millages on Dec. 5 that wouldn’t increase residents’ total tax bills, but would reallocate the proceeds for 20 years. The first would increase a combined streets and...
The diverse group of parents, librarians and concerned citizens that make up the Save Our Libraries coalition got a boost this week when the Bureau of Governmental Research added their voice to those opposing Proposition 2 which is on...
NEW ORLEANS — Early voting begins Friday across Louisiana for the Dec. 5 election, which includes the runoff for Orleans Parish District Attorney, as well as several judicial runoffs and important tax issues across the metro New Orleans area....
NEW ORLEANS – In a new report, the Bureau of Governmental Research – a private, nonprofit government watchdog – analyzes three separate propositions to replace several property taxes that will expire at the end of 2021. BGR said the...
In a report released Monday, the Bureau of Governmental Research, a local nonpartisan think tank, came out against a package of proposed property tax changes backed by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Cantrell’s tax plan is being put to...
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases On the Ballot: New Orleans Property Tax Propositions, December 5, 2020. The report is intended to help New Orleans voters make an informed decision on three separate propositions to replace several City...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) hosted a virtual Breakfast Briefing featuring New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. She discussed “Looking Ahead to 2021: New Orleans’ Budget, Infrastructure and Policy Priorities” and then answered questions from the audience. BGR...
Despite the Morial Convention Center’s pandemic-related money challenges, tourism chief Stephen Perry said during a Biz New Orleans podcast interview this week that it’s more important than ever to continue with the center’s planned improvements and developments. “We have...
The financial backer of the 1,200-room hotel at the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has pulled out of the project, putting the future of the development in doubt as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc...
The Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center has spent $49 million of its large cash reserves to cover deep budget shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has ground the convention industry to a near-complete halt and starved...
At the request of Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the New Orleans City Council on Thursday gave final approval to a long-anticipated 6.75 percent tax on short-term rental bookings. Thursday’s ordinance codifying the new tax into city law comes more than...
Members of the New Orleans City Council on Thursday initiated the process to renew a quarter percent sales tax in the French Quarter that has funded Louisiana State Police patrols in and around the French Quarter for the past...
Today, BGR published a new PolicyWatch newsletter, focusing on property assessment issues in New Orleans. Last year’s incomplete property reassessment in New Orleans led citizens and policymakers to question the progress made by the Orleans Parish Assessor on assessment system...
The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is facing unprecedented challenges. In April, a watchdog report critical of its hotel expansion plans cautioned against it in the near term. At its May board of commissioners meeting, the financial...
Today, BGR released 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 focuses on the City of New Orleans’ finances as it faces a...
The New Orleans City Council will consider a resolution to formally oppose the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s publicly subsidized hotel development at a Thursday meeting. The resolution, which appears in the agenda for the council’s meeting on Thursday,...
The governing board of the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center is pressing pause on behind-the-scenes negotiations with a private development team over a publicly subsidized, $702 million hotel development. The announcement followed weeks of criticism from public officials and...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s oversight board on Wednesday approved a donation of $1 million to support programs for “needy hospitality workers due to COVID-19,” which will be split equally between The United Way of Southeast Louisiana and...
The Communications Workers of America, the largest communications and media labor union in the country, is threatening to pull its August 2021 convention if the center doesn’t negotiate with local groups demanding the center provide $100 million in relief...
Three developers have been selected as finalists for a mixed-use entertainment district on 39 acres adjacent to a new headquarters hotel planned for the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The selected teams are The Domain Companies; River District Neighborhood...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will delay plans to develop a new, 20-acre “entertainment district” on some of its upriver land, according to the new chairman of its oversight board, as the finances of the massive facility continue...
Over the past week, officials with the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center have sent a clear message: They will push forward a trio of interconnected developments worth over $1 billion, despite the known and unknown economic impacts...
A new 1,200-room hotel at the Morial Convention Center downtown is a risky proposal now that the coronavirus has disrupted New Orleans’ tourism industry and its major business meeting schedule. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the...
The Bureau of Governmental Research says a proposed headquarters hotel at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center needs reconsideration now that tourism and conventions have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. A report released Thursday by the public policy organization also...
The Bureau of Governmental Research, a public policy watchdog, has called on leaders of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to rethink plans to build a large hotel, saying it is an especially bad use of taxpayers’ money at...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research releases a report calling on the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to pause its 1,200-room convention headquarters hotel project to assess the coronavirus pandemic’s impacts on tourism and conventions, and to...
A coalition of 21 local unions, advocacy organizations and other groups are calling on the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center to release $100 million out of its unrestricted cash reserves to support hospitality industry workers who are...
The coronavirus outbreak and the efforts to slow its spread are set to levy a massive toll on the New Orleans economy, with the hospitality sector already seeing a sharp downturn in business and officials warning about likely cuts...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has presented a proposal to Mayor LaToya Cantrell to settle a yearlong dispute with the Regional Transit Authority over millions in tax dollars split between the two agencies and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation....
BGR President and CEO Amy Glovinsky and Vice President & Research Director Stephen Stuart talked about the 2020 Excellence in Government Awards program and a variety of issues related to local government in a live interview with Oliver Thomas...
Having your car broken into via smashed windows has become the new normal in New Orleans. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, a group of neighborhood associations hosted a community meeting at the Jewish Community Center to “discuss the recent uptick...
Deputy clerks at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court can breathe a sigh of relief — at least for now. Clerk of Court Arthur Morrell said Monday that he has shelved his plan to furlough nearly all of his office’s...
Large portions of Convention Center Boulevard are closed for the entire month of December. It’s just the latest in a series of intermittent closures on the Central Business District thoroughfare as the street is permanently converted from four lanes...
Newell talks to BGR Vice President and Research Director Stephen Stuart and research analyst Jamie Parker about what’s changed since 2011, when New Orleans replaced the seven-assessor system with just one.
The governing body of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center set its 2020 budget at its Wednesday meeting. The Convention Center board was also expected to approve a contract with Populous, a Missouri-based architecture firm, to be...
Property tax assessments in Orleans Parish have come a long way from the days when seven assessors with a mishmash of policies determined the value of properties across the city. And while Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams has built...
The City Council has made a request to cut tax rates for property owners, and an agreement is under consideration. The plan is to move some individual millages around to prioritize infrastructure and public safety dollars over areas of...
Today, BGR releases Assessing the Assessor: Progress on Property Assessment Reform in New Orleans. The report evaluates whether and to what extent New Orleans’ property assessment system has improved under the single parish assessor since he replaced the seven-assessor...
Citizens in New Orleans who plan to vote in Saturday’s election can inform their decisions with BGR’s report, On the Ballot: New Orleans Bond and Tax Propositions, November 16, 2019. The report examines three separate propositions that would authorize...
On Friday, The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, a public municipal entity, provided some of the first details into what it will look like once the majority of its staff, mission and funding are absorbed by the private nonprofit...
Since taking office in May 2018, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has searched far and wide for more money to fund the city’s pressing infrastructure needs, winning a big victory this spring when state officials and the tourism industry...
The topic of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans is a contentious one. In the past two years, people have lost their homes and their vehicles due to the flooding of portions of the town. Yet, when...
As the New Orleans City Council reviews the proposed 2020 budget for the City of New Orleans, BGR presents here a collection of resources to help citizens understand the proposal in the context of recent City budget trends and...
November 16th, New Orleans residents will vote on three different propositions, all that would allow the city to use those dollars to improve local infrastructure. “This touches basic civics services, and if we want a better quality of life...
Today, BGR releases BGR Now: A Framework for Assessing New Orleans’ Proposed 2020 Budget, which outlines key findings of BGR’s recent City budget study and connects them to the current 2020 budget process to help inform citizens and policymakers....
In a report released Tuesday, the non-partisan Bureau for Governmental Research (BGR) has endorsed three ballot propositions that would collectively generate millions of dollars in both annual and one-time funding, most of which would be spent on infrastructure projects....
Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s top public works aides offered a roadmap Tuesday for the hundreds of millions of dollars they plan to spend on streets, drainage, parks and other infrastructure in coming years, even as they cautioned that much of...
In 2-1/2 weeks New Orleans voters will be asked to consider three new tax measures that city officials say, would generate more than $520 million a year for capital improvements and infrastructure needs. The Bureau of Governmental Research came...
The Bureau of Governmental Research is backing three ballot initiatives aimed at increasing city funding for infrastructure that Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration is putting before the voters on Nov. 16. Cantrell is asking voters to impose a new sales...
Today BGR releases On the Ballot: New Orleans Bond and Tax Propositions, November 16, 2019. The report analyzes three separate propositions that would authorize the City of New Orleans (City) to: Issue up to $500 million in bonds for...
One of the reasons you love Think504 is that we keep you informed about important political and civic decisions you have to make. So when you go into the voting booth (Early voting Nov 2-9 Election Day Nov 16) to elect...
The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center reached a deal last week with a consortium of private developers to build a new 1,200-room hotel on the center’s upriver side, with public subsidies amounting to an estimated $114 million,...
At a public meeting Monday night, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s governing body touted its plans for a $557 million hotel as a project that would bring jobs and tourism dollars to the city. But a few residents...
Citizens in Orleans and Jefferson parishes who plan to vote in tomorrow’s election can inform their decisions with three BGR reports: On the Ballot: Housing Tax Exemptions in New Orleans, October 12, 2019 examines Constitutional Amendment No. 4, which...
Today, BGR releases A Look Back to Plan Ahead: Analyzing Past New Orleans Budgets to Guide Funding Priorities. The report reviews the City’s General Fund budgets from 2010 to 2019, focusing on growth in revenues and changes in expenditures. As...
Today, BGR releases On the Ballot: Housing Tax Exemptions in New Orleans, October 12, 2019. The report analyzes Constitutional Amendment No. 4, which voters will consider on October 12. It would allow the City of New Orleans to exempt from...
Today BGR releases Questions for a New Parish Council, the second in a two-part report series providing the views of candidates for Jefferson Parish government on important public policy issues. Yesterday, BGR released the responses of the candidates for...
Today BGR releases Questions for a New Parish President, the first in a two-part series of reports providing the views of candidates for Jefferson Parish government on important public policy issues. Tomorrow, BGR will release the responses of the...
The hospitality industry in New Orleans brings in $8.7 billion per year, according to a report commissioned by the city in 2018. But while the industry thrives, many of the city’s cooks, servers and bartenders must walk a financial tightrope trying...
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 of the project was signed by Gov. John Bel...
New Orleans will receive tens of millions of dollars to replace antiquated sewage pipes, fix faulty drainage pumps and mend pothole-filled roads, mostly by levying higher taxes on visitors, after the state Senate on Sunday gave final approval to...
NEW ORLEANS — The year was 1919. The rotary telephone hit the market, the Grand Canyon became a national park, prohibition was the law of the land and most of the pipes under New Orleans’ streets were brand new....
The Sewerage & Water Board has released a new interactive map that shows the location and age of underground water pipes across New Orleans. The map, published on the Sewerage & Water Board’s website, comes with a search function...
In his first detailed public remarks since city officials wrung millions of dollars for New Orleans infrastructure out of the state and the tourism industry, Sewerage & Water Board Executive Director Ghassan Korban on Tuesday laid out his initial plans...
Today, Ghassan Korban, executive director of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, presented at a BGR Breakfast Briefing on the state of the utility. BGR expresses its appreciation to Mr. Korban and to our attendees for their...
For generations, the mayor of New Orleans was supposed to be a native, a smooth political operator and, it almost goes without saying, a man. In her history-making 2017 campaign, Mayor LaToya Cantrell bet that New Orleans was ready...
The city of New Orleans’ crumbling infrastructure will receive an infusion of tens of millions of dollars under a deal announced Monday by Gov. John Bel Edwards and Mayor LaToya Cantrell after weeks of hard-fought negotiations between their aides...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – New Orleans voters approved a measure to consolidate taxes for the parish’s Parks and Recreation services Saturday (May 4). With 91 percent of precincts reported around 10:30 p.m., 76 percent voted to create the 20-year...
New Orleans voters approved a consolidation of soon-to-expire taxes for New Orleans parks and recreation organizations Saturday (May 4). The 20-year property tax will be split four ways among two city agencies and two park operations, including the first-ever local tax...
New Orleans voters on Saturday roundly endorsed a new financial plan for parks and recreation in the city that will boost services but not taxes. The overwhelming approval — about 76 percent — means the property taxes that benefit...
Voters in much of the New Orleans area will head to the polls Saturday to consider mainly requests involving taxes, as a parks and recreation tax in Orleans Parish, a teacher pay tax in Jefferson Parish and a school...
A measure to replace and redistribute expiring taxes for New Orleans parks and recreation organizations will be put to voters Saturday (May 4). If approved, the proposed 20-year property tax would be split four waysamong two city agencies and two park operations....
The closing of a deal to secure millions of dollars in immediate and continuing money for the city’s drainage infrastructure and the Sewerage & Water Board appears imminent for Mayor LaToya Cantrell. The negotiations in some respects could put more money in the hands of the...
Some very critical tax measures go before the voters on Saturday. Teacher pay raises and commitments to public greenspace and facilities in both Jefferson and Orleans. Even on the second Saturday of Jazz Fest, these millages are worthy of...
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 after Hurricane Katrina. Some critics, including...
America faces a crisis at home more urgent than any before — other than Pearl Harbor and 9/11. That crisis is our crumbling and badly managed infrastructure. Some may call me an alarmist, but I don’t expect many New Orleanians...
New Orleans developer and hotelier Joe Jaeger announced Saturday that he is withdrawing from the team seeking to build a heavily subsidized and thus controversial hotel at the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Earlier in...
Four years after calling for a comprehensive review of New Orleans’ tangle of tax dedications, the watchdog Bureau of Governmental Research has a new report that points out officials have done little to fix the problem. The nonprofit published...
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 tourism and hospitality industry are battling...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The Bureau of Governmental Research has released a report with updated estimates of how much money the City of New Orleans will generate from tax revenue this year. BGR released the report Thursday morning detailing...
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...
In a hardball move against the hospitality industry, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell took her fight for tourism tax dollars to the Louisiana Legislature Monday, with members of her administration testifying in favor of a series of bills to...
The Times-Picayune Editorial Board makes the following recommendation for the May 4 ballot. ORLEANS PARISH PARKS AND RECREATION TAX PROPOSITION To replace three existing property taxes for parks and recreation totaling 6.31 mills with a single tax at the...
Five years ago, with his request for a tax hike decisively rejected by voters, Ron Forman stood in an Audubon Commission conference room and promised to someday make taxpayer funding of “world-class attractions” like the Audubon Zoo easier for...
While it involves no new taxes, a proposition on the May 4 ballot will renew some existing property millages totaling 6.31 mills for parks and recreation in New Orleans. The three existing taxes will be renewed but distributed differently...
VOTERS IN NEW ORLEANS AND JEFFERSON PARISH WILL GO TO THE POLLS ON MAY 4 — during Jazz Fest — to consider several important property tax millages. In New Orleans, the sole item on the ballot is the proposed renewal...
The sole item on the May 4 ballot in New Orleans is a citywide referendum often referred to as “Parks and Rec.” The ballot proposition could just as easily be cast as a vote on the future of New...
On April 9, 2019, the independent Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) released a report on the May 4 tax proposal that would replace three existing property taxes for parks and recreation with a single property tax at the same rate....
A nonpartisan research group is urging New Orleans and Jefferson Parish voters to support two tax measures that will be on the May 4 ballot. The private Bureau of Governmental Research announced Tuesday that it has endorsed a measure...
An independent New Orleans research group is backing the proposal to replace three existing property taxes into one millage for citywide parks and recreation. But there’s a caveat: If passed, the city is urged to monitor the park agencies’...
The Bureau of Governmental Research gave its blessing Tuesday (April 9) for a ballot proposal in New Orleans aimed at maintaining the current amount of property taxes charged for local parks and recreation services and a new split of...
Today, BGR releases On the Ballot: New Orleans Parks and Recreation Tax Proposal, May 4, 2019. The report analyzes a May 4 tax proposition in New Orleans to replace three existing taxes for parks and recreation totaling 6.31 mills with...
Hear WWL Radio’s Tommy Tucker talk with Amy Glovinsky, President/CEO BGR (Bureau of Governmental Research), about the City’s efforts to get a greater share of the tax revenue from the tourism industry. Click here to read BGR’s report on...
The contentious debate over how to use New Orleans tourism tax dollars that has rumbled along largely behind closed doors spilled out in public Wednesday at The New Orleans Advocate’s tourism summit. A high-level panel that included Mayor LaToya...
An expert panel on tourism brought together a host of important industries and ideas Tuesday morning in downtown New Orleans. The forum, hosted at The New Orleans Advocate, delved into several subjects integral to the city’s tourism future and...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A last-ditch effort at the polls for a property tax to benefit elderly services fell flat Saturday (March 30). City Councilman Jason Williams sponsored the measure and posted on his Facebook page in the days...
New Orleans voters overwhelmingly rejected a new tax to pay for services for senior citizens Saturday in an election that doubled as a test of political might between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the City Council. The more than 2-1...
New Orleans voters rejected a new property tax Saturday (March 30) to support elderly services, money the Council on Aging intended to use to shorten waitlists for its Meals on Wheels and housekeeping services programs. Unofficial results showed 12,335...
Three new directors have joined the 11-member panel tasked with overseeing the Sewerage & Water Board. The additions follow a recent law change that called for vacating nearly all board seats this year along with adding a New Orleans City Council member. The new...
A property tax proposal on Saturday’s (March 30) ballot to support elderly services in New Orleans has given Mayor LaToya Cantrell a platform to call for more accountability and transparency from agencies not under City Hall control. Yet the...
In a video posted to Facebook earlier this week, Mayor LaToya Cantrell continued to urge New Orleans residents to vote “NO” on a new property tax. The proposed tax increase would be sent to the Council on Aging, a...
The Times-Picayune Editorial Board makes the following recommendation for Saturday’s election (March 30). ORLEANS PARISH Elderly Services Tax Proposition To levy a 2-mill property tax for five years for services for senior citizens No It’s clear that New Orleans...
NEW ORLEANS — Suppose we had an election and almost no one showed up? That could happen this Saturday in New Orleans — and it could raise your taxes. That’s the topic of this week’s commentary by Eyewitness News Political...
VOTE YES in the upcoming 2 Mills, Senior Services Property Tax Special Election on March 30. Funding for senior services has collapsed in Orleans Parish post-Katrina, and the dollars allocated out of the General Fund proved pretty anemic prior to...
It’s 2019, but looking at some of the city’s old and antiquated infrastructure, it doesn’t feel like it. We have a pumping system that includes parts that are over a hundred years old, and a water and sewer system...
Build it and they will come. That’s the rosy forecast by officials from the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, who are in the beginning stages of a $1.1 billion spending plan that they say will bring hordes of...
Before the fish plates were served Friday at the senior center on the edge of Pontchartrain Park, Joyce Rawlins and Rose George were on opposite sides of a debate. Rawlins, 73, supported giving the organization that manages the center...
We don’t want to disrespect our elders, but a proposal to levy a new 2-mill property tax in New Orleans for elderly services is not the show of respect that our seniors deserve. The proposition is the only item...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – On March 30th voters in New Orleans will decide whether to pass a property tax to benefit senior services — a measure that has not been as well-received as some had hoped. According to the...
Less than a month away from the start of the 2019 legislative session, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s legislative agenda is being shaped by her push to divert millions of tax dollars from state-sponsored tourism and sports agencies to helping meet New...
The Great Hall of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center was a bustle of activity the day before 18,000 cardiologists from all over the world were set to arrive for their annual gathering. Electricians tinkered with video...
Two groups — one created by the mayor and the governor, the other consisting of tourism and business leaders working behind the scenes — are zeroing in on sources of money that could help address the New Orleans Sewerage & Water...
The political appeal of a tax for services to the elderly is obvious. For one thing, members of the New Orleans City Council can tell you, the elderly vote in larger numbers. But the Bureau of Governmental Research has...
There are relatively few items on ballots in the New Orleans area for the March 30 election, as statewide races and several legislative seats won’t be decided until this fall. But for those who can’t make it to the...
NEW ORLEANS MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL HAS DRAWN HER FIRST ELECTORAL BATTLE LINES since taking office last year. She opposes a new 2-mill property tax for senior services while she leads the effort to renew an existing 6.31-mill levy for parks...
The Bureau of Governmental Research is urging New Orleans voters to reject a proposed property tax hike to fund services for senior citizens, saying that city officials have not properly detailed how the money would be used. In a...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Orleans Parish tax assessor says he’s told convention center officials that a $558 million hotel they’re proposing probably would not be exempt from property taxes — something some center board members say is essential....
New Orleans voters should reject a new tax later this month dedicated to senior services because it gives city officials spending authority that is too broad and poorly planned, according to a Bureau of Governmental Research report. The report,...
A new report by the Bureau of Governmental Research urges New Orleans residents to vote against a new property tax that would raise money for services and programs for the elderly. While the report, released Tuesday, agrees that there is a...
Today, BGR releases On the Ballot: New Orleans Elderly Services Tax Proposal, March 30, 2019. The report analyzes a March 30 tax proposition in New Orleans to fund elderly services, programs and other assistance. If approved, the property tax will...
Community activism is alive and well in New Orleans at the grassroot level. One group, The New Orleans Peoples’ Assembly (NOPA), is in the vanguard of addressing social injustice and human rights violations by people with both political and...
With the Louisiana Legislature convening in exactly one month, the first proposals focused on raising more money for New Orleans road and Sewerage & Water Board repairs have begun to take shape. The chances for major success, though, appear slim at this point,...
Erroll Williams, the Orleans Parish tax assessor, is complicating plans for a hotel that officials of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center want to build with tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. Williams told Convention Center officials...
A respected investment banker has a plan that he says could save the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center hundreds of millions of dollars in its controversial deal to build a 1,200-room hotel. So far, the response from the center’s...
This year agencies in New Orleans charged with overseeing the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, running the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and promoting tourism in the city will do so with the help of more than $160 million in tax dollars....
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has signaled she wants $75 million for city infrastructure repairs straight from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s reserve account, tapping money from hotel tax revenues that Gov. John Bel Edwards, key state lawmakers and tourism industry leaders have said should be...
What was originally meant to be a temporary move to ease the construction of the Superdome may still be costing the city an estimated $12 million dollars in 2019, according to a recent report. A recent report from the...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Mayor LaToya Cantrell wants millions of dollars from the Convention Center and said the city is not getting its fair share of hotel tax money, when compared with other major cities. “I have recommended a...
The old idiom that nothing is certain but death and taxes remains true, with the possible addition of Roger Goodell’s loathing of the Saints to round out the list. The certainty surrounding taxes, however, is in the paying of...
Amy Glovinsky and Paul Rioux of the Bureau of Governmental Research joined Newell to talk about the tourism dollar to the state budget.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Thursday gave the clearest outline yet of her vision for plugging budget holes at the cash-strapped Sewerage & Water Board, a plan that banks heavily on the city’s tourism and sports industries providing an upfront...
New Orleans City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer is calling for an end to a longtime arrangement that diverts about half of the Regional Transit Authority’s hotel tax revenues to the tourism industry. A one-percent sales tax — approved in...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -The City of New Orleans wants to spread the wealth from hotel tax funding. The Bureau of Governmental Research will share its findings Tuesday on how the tax money could be used to improve city services....
Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s effort to get more of New Orleans’ hotel-motel taxes into the city’s general fund got a boost when the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR), a nonpartisan good government group, made the case that the city should increase hotel-motel...
The Bureau of Governmental Research has waded into the big-dollar tax dispute between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the tourism industry with a recommendation that would deliver more dollars to the city of New Orleans – as Cantrell is seeking....
NEW ORLEANS The New Orleans government’s share of taxes from hotel rooms in the tourism-dependent city should increase by more than $12 million a year, an independent research group said in a report released Wednesday. Reviving a debate involving city...
Restoring a 1 percent sales tax on New Orleans hotels would be a step too much for the city’s tourism industry to bear, leading industry representatives said Wednesday (Jan. 30), responding to a new watchdog report that called for the extra...
A new report by a nonprofit group says the city of New Orleans should get to keep more tax dollars then it’s currently getting. That report came from the Bureau of Governmental Research. View video here.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A leading local research group published a comprehensive report on New Orleans hotel-motel taxes, which shows the city lagging far behind when it comes to using hotel tax revenues to help fund city services. Since...
A new report from the Bureau of Governmental Research released on Wednesday found a lack of accountability and transparency when it comes to New Orleans hotel tax revenue, and recommended that the city get at least $12 million more per year,...
A one-percent tax on New Orleans hotel sales should return to city coffers, as it was decades ago before that local tax was halted to let the state collect its own tax revenue to build the Superdome, says a new report...
The New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board is in desperate need of money for critical infrastructure projects and should start charging a new stormwater fee to pay for longer-term upgrades to the city’s drainage system, a report from a...
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser doesn’t think New Orleans hotel tax revenue should be redirected from state marketing, tourism and sports-related organizations to deal with the city’s drainage issues. His perspective, which he shared with the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday...
In her push to find money to improve New Orleans’ decrepit infrastructure, Mayor LaToya Cantrell is targeting a share of the $160 million in sales and hotel taxes that are collected each year to promote the tourism industry. The...
Since his first few weeks on the job as executive director of the Sewerage & Water Board, Ghassan Korban has sought to warm New Orleanians to the idea that the floundering agency needs more of their money. It’s apparently...
New Orleans Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer warned this week that she would not support any new fee levied on residents and businesses to raise money for the city’s drainage system unless it’s paid fairly by everyone in the city and nixes exemptions...
The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, the state entity with oversight of Mercedes-Benz Superdome and Smoothie King Center, raked in an additional $2.6 million in hotel taxes in 2017, pushing its revenue from tourist-related taxes to a record high,...
Amid new pressure from unions and an ongoing debate over whether the city’s hospitality and tourism industry is doing enough to support its mostly low-wage workers, a local nonprofit research group has released a report estimating that the industry’s...
New Orleans voters have chosen to slightly reel back a change they made five years ago to the makeup of the Sewerage & Water Board. After removing three City Council members in 2013, a proposal approved Saturday (Dec. 8) with...
To change who oversees the Sewerage & Water Board or not to change it? That question is on the ballot for New Orleans voters to decide Saturday (Dec. 8). The matter depends on whether to add a New Orleans City Councilmember or designee back...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Drainage issues, boil water advisories and complaints about inflated water bills have thrust the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board into the headlines. On Saturday, voters will cast ballots on a proposed City Charter amendment...
Facing political pressure to share some of their hotel tax revenue with city agencies, New Orleans tourism leaders on Thursday proposed an alternative: a new hotel tax that would generate $6.7 million a year for municipal infrastructure projects. But...
New Orleans hospitality industry and business representatives are pitching a plan to raise $81 million in one-time money to plan and undertake fixes to drainage and other city infrastructure. Mayor LaToya Cantrell panned the proposal shortly after it was made public...
New Orleans voters will decide Saturday whether to approve a City Charter change that would return City Council representation to the Sewerage & Water Board and strengthen rules surrounding reports the agency is supposed to make to elected officials....
The Sewerage and Water Board oversees most of the water and drainage in the city. It’s faced lots of problems in recent years, including the floods in the summer of 2017, which revealed that many of the pumps and...
NEW ORLEANS — Tensions were already running high in mid-August when the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board resumed shutting off water service to some customers who had not paid their bills. The Board indicated it had no choice...
In a Dec. 2 editorial titled, “No on adding a council representative to S&WB,” the Times-Picayune editorial board quotes a recent Bureau of Governmental Research report. The BGR says, “The council has recently taken steps to strengthen its regulatory oversight of the...
The Times-Picayune Editorial Board makes the following recommendation for the Dec. 8 election. SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD PROPOSITION To amend New Orleans’ Home Rule Charter to change the membership of the Sewerage & Water Board to remove one citizen member and add...
This Saturday, Dec. 8, is Election Day in Louisiana. The ballot includes a statewide runoff for Secretary of State and many local runoffs and referenda. In New Orleans, voters will decide the fate of a proposed City Charter amendment...
Early voting begins Saturday, Nov. 24 and runs through Dec. 1 for the Dec. 8 elections across Louisiana, including several runoffs. Early voting is available every day except Sunday, Nov. 25. Voting hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m....
A proposal voters will consider next month to restore a City Council representative to the Sewerage & Water Board’s governing board has rustled up a familiar opponent: the Bureau of Governmental Research. The nonpartisan watchdog group said adding any...
As negotiations continue behind the scenes over the terms of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s proposed 1,200-room high-rise Omni Hotel, the city’s property tax assessor says he is skeptical that the $557.5 million project would qualify for the...
Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday said definitively that he will not support a plan by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to move some of the city’s hotel tax to the Sewerage & Water Board’s drainage system, which agency leaders recently...
A charter amendment on the Dec. 8 ballot would make changes in the membership of the group that oversees the aging and ailing infrastructure of the Sewerage and Water Board. We urge voters to reject the proposal, although it...
New Orleans voters will decide next month whether to return a New Orleans City Council member to the Sewerage & Water Board’s 11-person board of directors. Ahead of that vote, the watchdog Bureau of Governmental Research issued a report Thursday (Nov. 14) reiterating its position...
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases a report to inform voters on a proposed City of New Orleans charter amendment to change the composition of the Sewerage & Water Board’s board of directors. On December 8, 2018,...
Governor John Bel Edwards presented at a BGR Breakfast Briefing on State of Louisiana priorities of local importance. BGR expresses its appreciation to Governor Edwards and to our attendees for their presence and participation in the Q&A that followed...
A plan by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to ask state lawmakers to shift some hotel taxes from tourism to the ailing infrastructure of the Sewerage & Water Board was dealt a major, and likely fatal, blow on Tuesday...
The would-be developers of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s proposed $557.5 million, 1,200-room Omni Hotel have released the first design draft of the project’s exterior. Negotiations are ongoing and expected to wrap up by early 2019 between the New Orleans...
The developer of a proposed 1,200-room Ernest N. Morial Convention Center hotel has released a rendering of the structure, a $558 million addition to the facility along the Mississippi River in New Orleans. Dallas-based Matthews Southwest Hospitality is seeking...
There will be several proposed changes to the state constitution on the ballot next Tuesday. One of them, Amendment 6, is meant to ease the blow of a sudden increase in property taxes. That’s something experienced by many people...
Jefferson Parish voters will take up three parishwide tax renewals when they go to the polls Nov. 6, while voters in Grand Isle and parts of the west bank also will vote on taxes for their local fire departments....
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases reports to inform voters on proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 6 and three proposed Jefferson Parish property tax renewals. Tax Phase-In Constitutional Amendment On November 6, 2018, voters statewide will decide whether...
Let New Orleans drown in water and red ink or stop giving special interests money to finance their real-life Monopoly game? It should be a no-brainer for Louisiana lawmakers. Earlier this month, Mayor LaToya Cantrell executed a campaign promise...
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell built her political career by being a disruptor, and she won election with 60 percent of the vote, so clearly that’s a quality her constituents wanted in their new leader. Her disruptive side was...
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is poised to meet with hotel and tourism industry leaders this week to broach potential tweaks to the existing occupancy tax dedication structure amid a funding shortfall for city drainage infrastructure improvements. Tens of millions of dollars flow to a handful of tourism,...
Louisiana state Senate President John Alario on Friday threw cold water on Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s tentative plan to try to shift tax revenue away from local tourism agencies to help pay for improving New Orleans’ antiquated drainage, water and sewerage systems....
Four years after New Orleans voters overwhelmingly rejected a 4.2-mill property tax for the Audubon Nature Institute that would have lasted a whopping 50 years, Audubon President and CEO Ron Forman is trying to craft a more palatable proposal...
Mayor LaToya Cantrell outlined tentative plans Thursday to shift some tax revenue away from various local tourism, sports and marketing agencies to improve New Orleans’ crippled drainage and water systems. Cantrell said she would ask state lawmakers, presumably during...
Mayor LaToya Cantrell says she held private conversations with Sewerage & Water Board members just to keep them informed after controversial pay raises for top officials became public. The conversations were “independent calls” that were “very intentional only to inform, but...
When Mayor LaToya Cantrell addressed the Bureau of Governmental Research on Tuesday, she was quick to talk about her desire to add currently exempt property to the tax rolls while also re-distributing other tax dollars that are generated in...
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Tuesday (Sept. 18) defended her decision to hold at least one private phone call with members of the Sewerage & Water Board’s board of directors about pay raises for top utility officials — a call that some local attorneys...
I read with interest a recent article in The Advocate in which a group that includes Joe Jaeger is asking for large subsidies to build a 1,200-room hotel next to the Morial Convention Center, for which the Bureau of...
The Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center’s proposal to build a 1,200-room hotel on its property is drawing scrutiny from a good government watchdog group, which questions why the project is so reliant on public support in the...
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -The Bureau of Governmental Research, a watchdog group released an open-letter it sent to the New Orleans Convention Center Thursday which raises questions about the accuracy of a consultant’s analysis for a controversial hotel project the...
A local government watchdog offered a detailed rebuttal to arguments that it’s necessary for developers of a $558 million hotel project to receive public subsidies that will total hundreds of millions of dollars. The nonpartisan Bureau of Governmental Research...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases an open letter to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The letter sets forth BGR’s concerns about a Convention Center consultant’s recent analysis of the feasibility and economic impact of a proposed 1,200-room convention...
Convention Center officials on Wednesday (Aug. 22) released an economic impact study that showed a proposed 1,200-room Convention Center hotel would have an estimated $282 million economic impact. The study also shows the Convention Center hotel would generate about...
Hoping to counteract mounting criticism over plans to build a publicly subsidized 1,200-room hotel, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center officials on Wednesday endorsed a consultant’s view of the project’s potential benefits, which he estimated would be worth $282 million in...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – Residents packed the Convention Center board meeting Wednesday (Aug. 22) to voice their opinions on a multi-million-dollar hotel project proposed for the lot next to the facility. However, proponents say the 1,200-room hotel would...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – Leaders from the Convention Center are set to make their case for a proposed hotel on the river. It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in public money. The Convention center argues that...
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Board would really like to build a hotel attached to the Convention Center — so badly it wants taxpayers to pay for much of it. Last month, the nonpartisan Bureau of Governmental Research...
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is voicing opposition to a proposal to build a 1,200-room hotel attached to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center that would include a $41 million contribution from the Convention Center. Cantrell’s letter comes nearly a month...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) won two awards from the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference July 30 to August 1 in Detroit. BGR received the Outstanding Policy Achievement award for the 2016 report Reducing the...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – Mayor Latoya Cantrell is asking the Convention Center board to “defer all action” on a controversial plan to use hundreds of millions of public dollars to fund a new hotel. The mayor’s request comes just one month...
In the opening salvo in what could become a lengthy negotiation over whether the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center moves forward with its plans to build a high-rise hotel, Mayor LaToya Cantrell has expressed “grave concerns” about the large public subsidies...
A $557 million hotel proposed for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center needs a thorough evaluation of the project’s need and financial details before an approval vote possibly late next month, according to a report released Thursday (July 19)...
Today, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases Public Contributions to Convention Center Hotel Demand Scrutiny. The report provides an analytical framework for evaluating the necessity and size of a private development team’s requested public contributions to design, build and operate a...
A local government watchdog group is urging officials to take a more critical look at a request for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of public subsidies for a proposed high-rise hotel adjacent to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The nonpartisan...
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center officials are back at the negotiating table, hoping to finally realize their dream of building a high-rise anchor hotel and, in time, a retail and entertainment complex on a vacant 47-acre tract the center purchased nearly...
To provide New Orleans police officers with a pay raise starting in 2018, former Mayor Mitch Landrieu tapped into an initial lease payment to the city from the team redeveloping the former World Trade Center. Over the next two years, the...
Update: A clarification was added to this story to indicate that municipal taxes were not factored in the Louisiana Tax Commission’s rankings. Three parishes in metro New Orleans were in the Top 10 with the highest property tax rates among...
Second time’s the charm. That’s what members of the New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority hope as they return to the negotiating table with a team of developers who have proposed building a $558 million, 1,200-room Omni Hotel at an...
The start of hurricane season always raises our collective anxiety level a bit. South Louisianians have to be on guard between June 1 and Nov. 30 — it’s a fact of life this close to the Gulf of Mexico....
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell held a news conference on Tuesday (May 22) to level with the public about the city’s flood risk and to outline how her administration is trying to “unclog” funding sources to mitigate risk. Cantrell said she...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – Fixing the Sewerage and Water Board may be one of the toughest jobs in the city. Friday’s heavy rain and flooding was a reminder of the importance of effective pumps and drainage. Monday residents...
NOTE: Gov John Bel Edwards signed this bill on May 20. A bill that would return New Orleans City Council representation back to the Sewerage & Water Board breezed through the 2018 state legislative session and is on the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards for his signature. Sponsored...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – A bill in the State Legislature to place a member of the New Orleans City Council back on the troubled Sewerage and Water Board moves closer to final approval. But the Bureau of Governmental...
Adding a New Orleans City Council member back to the Sewerage & Water Board could “create a false sense of security” along with conflicts of interest for the struggling utility, according to a report released Monday (April 9) by the Bureau of Governmental Research....
Today the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) releases City Council Members Should Regulate, Not Govern, S&WB. The release addresses a bill that would, among other things, allow a member of the New Orleans City Council to sit on the Sewerage &...
The Bureau of Governmental Research has come out against a proposal to restore representation from the New Orleans City Council on the Sewerage & Water Board. Instead, the nonpartisan think tank recommended in a lengthy statement released Monday that the...
On some days, you need nerves of steel to drive down Louisiana Avenue during rush hour. It’s one of several arteries torn up under a $2 billion effort to improve drainage in Orleans and Jefferson parishes under the Southeast...
After years of stalled negotiations, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center officials have returned to the drawing board as they seek ways to kick-start a potentially $1.5 billion riverfront development that would include a 1,200-room hotel, retail space, restaurants and entertainment...
The Sewerage & Water Board will open the new year facing both a federal audit of its post-Hurricane Katrina spending and a $56.6 million deficit in its funding for drainage projects. Though unrelated, the two new revelations show continuing...
There are several issues and races on the ballot throughout south Louisiana for today’s election, including a statewide contest to pick the next treasurer and a high-profile race for mayor in New Orleans. We urge everyone to go to...
New Orleans voters have agreed to create a safety net for the city’s finances, establishing a “rainy day” fund with a charter change that gained citywide approval Saturday (Nov. 18). The city will be required to set aside for emergencies...
In 7 1/2 years, together with the City Council and the people of New Orleans, we have righted the ship of government. Today, our financial house is stronger, going from a budget deficit to a budget surplus, and our...
NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) – The unexpected July and August outraged many people in the city and revealed deficiencies in the drainage system. Come 2018, either Latoya Cantrell or Desiree Charbonnet will have a lot of say at the...
When Mayor Mitch Landrieu and a new City Council took office in May 2010, New Orleans was broke. The mayor and council took drastic measures to put the city’s fiscal house in order, and those tough choices have, for...
New Orleans voters opted to renew three property taxes that fund public school employee salaries, supplies and disciplinary programs. The three 10-year millages, which will continue at their current rates through 2028, were on the path to resounding approval...
On Saturday at the polls, voters will decide whether to renew three millages, or local taxes, that support the public school system. Voters have approved the millages each time they’ve appeared on the ballot since 1988. If voters approve...
NEW ORLEANS — The city’s traffic cameras became a hot-button issue after their numbers nearly doubled over the past year. The big question for mayoral candidates during WWL-TV’s televised debate on Oct. 11 was if the revenue justified the...
WDSU-TV’s New Orleans mayoral debate on Tuesday (Oct. 3) was a careful, plodding affair with almost no friction between the candidates, and a list of boilerplate questions that did little to differentiate the candidates from one another. Anchorman Scott Walker, the...
The Times-Picayune editorial board makes the following recommendations for the Oct. 14 ballot. Early voting is open through Saturday, Oct. 7. ORLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD PROPOSITION A To renew a 1.55 mill property tax for textbooks for 10 years Yes...
Six leading New Orleans mayoral candidates vowed this week to keep the troubled Sewerage & Water Board under city management, but said they would appoint expert overseers or modernize the agency so that crises like this week’s 24-hour boil-water...
In the midst of new concerns about the reliability of the Sewerage & Water Board’s drainage system and longstanding complaints about broken streets and other infrastructure, City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell is proposing to direct $84 million a year toward...
Mayor Mitch Landrieu is in the early stages of a plan to put a stormwater management fee proposal before the New Orleans City Council to help pay for improvements to the city’s troubled drainage system. Similar fees are in place in 39...
An emergency management team led by former Louisiana Recovery Authority director Paul Rainwater took over the Sewerage & Water Board last week. In addition to Mr. Rainwater, who helped get the state’s post-Katrina recovery on track, the team includes experts in...
As state Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, has watched the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board endure withering accusations of being asleep at the switch as the city’s drainage system crumbled, his frustration has grown. At the center of the storm are revelations...
The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) won two awards from the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference July 16-18, 2017, in Salt Lake City. BGR won the Outstanding Policy Achievement award for the 2013 report Sound the...
New Orleans’ ambitious plan to pour billions of dollars into fixing its crumbling streets is already behind schedule before it has really gotten started. The city had expected to accept bids by the end of July on the first 30...
A new report from the Bureau of Government Research says New Orleans isn’t using ANY traffic camera money to fix the streets. Our guest, Amy Glovinsky, President of the Bureau of Governmental Research says, “on the issue of traffic...
This week on All Things New Orleans, we chat with Stand with Dignity’s lead organizer, Toya Lewis, about a series of song story workshops. Then, we’ll discuss a report on street maintenance and how to pay for it with...
NEW ORLEANS — According to a new report, the City of New Orleans is only spending $3.8 million on street maintenance and none of that is coming from traffic camera fines. Ask any New Orleans driver, our city streets...
NEW ORLEANS – BGR released “Paying for Streets: Options for Funding Road Maintenance in New Orleans,” yesterday, Tuesday, May 9. With the city embarking on a $2 billion program for capital repairs to its street network, the report explores...
The city of New Orleans only spends an average of $3.8 million annually on street maintenance tasks like pothole repairs — a fraction of the $30 million to $35 million officials say they need to cover the costs of maintaining...
New Orleans property owners are venting their frustration after finding a second property tax bill for 2017 in their mailboxes this week. The reason: Voters on Dec. 10 approved a new property tax millage for fire protection and renewed a tax...
A state representative is proposing to redirect about $16 million a year in taxes from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to an independent board that would spend the money on fixing streets in New Orleans. The proposal, by...
A larger share taxes generated by short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb would go to New Orleans rather than entities like the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center or Convention and Visitor’s Bureau under a bill filed for the...
This week on All Things New Orleans, we spoke with representatives of the Global Livingston Institute about their annual iKnow Concert Series in Uganda. Dr. Andrew Ward and Tom Larson, Chairman and Musical Director, both urge New Orleans artists...
The New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board should consider levying usage fees to pay for the upkeep of its drainage system rather than relying on the property taxes that now fund the system, according to a new report from...
The $40 million public safety plan proposed recently by Mayor Mitch Landrieu and being considered by other New Orleans officials depends on having the bulk of its upfront costs covered by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The $23...
Tuesday (Jan. 31) was the deadline for New Orleans property owners to pay their 2017 taxes, but they can expect another bill in the coming months. The reason: Voters on Dec. 10 approved a new property tax millage for...
A massive expansion of the New Orleans Police Department’s surveillance capabilities, in both the French Quarter and 20 “hot spots” around the city, was unveiled Monday afternoon. The 20 “hot spots” for more cameras include Hollygrove, Mid-City, Hoffman Triangle,...
Jerry Bologna (JEDCO President & CEO) and Robert Edgecombe (GCR, Inc. Urban Planner and Consultant) spoke at a BGR Breakfast Briefing in Jefferson Parish. This Breakfast Briefing was sponsored by IBERIABANK. Edgecombe presented Jefferson Parish demographic trends. Bologna followed with...
Released in 2015, BGR’s report The $1 Billion Question: Do the Tax Dedications in New Orleans Make Sense? serves as a critical fact base for Lee Zurik’s Finding the Funds. The investigative series looks into Convention Center taxes. For BGR’s complete analysis,...
BGR won two awards from the Governmental Research Association (GRA) at its national conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. BGR won the award for Outstanding Policy Achievement for the report The Accidental Steward: The Orleans Parish School...
