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 reforms. BGR evaluated that progress last fall in our report Assessing the Assessor and made recommendations for continued improvement. With the public getting its first look at this year’s assessment rolls beginning July 15, this edition of PolicyWatch re-urges BGR’s recommendations on property valuation practices. It also revisits an unusual funding formula that generates large surpluses for the assessor’s office at the expense of other public entities, many of which face pandemic-related budget shortfalls.
Amy L. Glovinsky, President & CEO
Samuel Zemurray Chair in Research Leadership
On July 15, the Orleans Parish Assessor must open the 2021 property assessment rolls to the public. This will be the public’s first opportunity to review the assessor’s property valuations since last year’s controversial reassessment. The reassessment resulted in substantially higher property values and taxes for thousands of homeowners. However, a Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report this spring confirmed that the assessor did not complete the reassessment, leaving about 27,000 properties (18% of taxable properties) for revaluation this year. About 57,000 other properties (38%) received land-only reappraisals. The report indicated these properties’ overall valuations may fall below market value.
The Legislative Auditor’s report also reinforced some of the most problematic findings on the assessor’s property valuation processes from BGR’s November 2019 report, Assessing the Assessor: Progress on Property Assessment Reform in New Orleans . The report evaluated the assessor’s progress in building a model assessment system since taking over as the parish’s single assessor in 2011. BGR found that the assessor has made progress in some areas, such as creating a data collection and maintenance program, increasing the use of mapping technology, establishing a standard assessment appeal process and enhancing the office’s website. However, in fundamental areas critical to accurate property valuations, BGR found insufficient progress and a lack of transparency. The findings raised serious concerns about the uniformity and fairness of property valuations in New Orleans, as well as the sufficiency of the assessment processes that inform them.
For this reason, it is important that the assessor demonstrates progress, through the upcoming reassessment, in improving the property valuation process and increasing transparency. To help the public gauge the assessor’s progress, BGR provides the following overview of its key recommendations.
Abandon the practice of “sales chasing” as a method to value property. Through its research, BGR found that the assessor relies heavily on sale prices to value recently-sold properties, a practice referred to as “sales chasing.” While this may seem logical, it is discouraged by national and State standards as it undermines uniformity among property valuations. This is because the assessor uses sale prices to value sold properties and a different method to value unsold properties. This lack of uniformity can distribute the tax burden unfairly among property owners, with newcomers to a neighborhood tending to pay more than long-term property owners.
To test for sales chasing, BGR sampled more than 1,500 detached, single-family residential properties sold in arm’s-length transactions in a 12-month period ending June 30, 2019. It found that the assessor’s office changed the value of nearly 60% of the sold properties to reflect either 90% or 100% of their sale price. Ordinarily, making such post-sale adjustments to just 5% of a sample would raise serious concerns about sales chasing.
In addition, BGR compared changes in the assessor’s valuations from 2019 to 2020 for the sample of sold properties and for 108,500 unsold residential properties. As shown in the chart, a significantly higher percentage of sold properties had valuation increases greater than 10%. Meanwhile, property valuations for unsold properties were more than three times as likely to remain unchanged. These findings highlight a lack of uniformity in the valuation of sold and unsold properties.
The Legislative Auditor echoed BGR’s findings about sales chasing in its analysis of property valuations. The auditor found that the assessor’s office valued 60% of the approximately 4,000 properties sold in 2019 at either 90% or 100% of the sale price. In making this finding, the auditor noted that the assessor follows a practice of appraising sold properties at 90% of their sale price when the mass appraisal system generates a lower proposed value than the sale price. For the 2020 tax rolls, the auditor found that the assessor’s use of this practice resulted in sold properties valued nearly 15% higher than similar unsold properties.
Consistently use computer-assisted mass appraisal technology in accordance with best practices. Mass appraisal technology uses various sets of data, valuation models and statistical testing to determine property values. It enables an assessor to value large groups of properties at once, while still producing accurate property valuations and adhering to appraisal principles.
BGR sought to gain a more complete understanding of the assessor’s use of mass appraisal technology through an in-person demonstration. However, the assessor denied BGR’s request. This lack of transparency and the assessor’s inability to complete the parishwide reappraisal last year raise concerns about whether the office is properly utilizing mass appraisal technology to determine property values. BGR calls for the assessor to demonstrate to the public how the office uses this technology as part of a comprehensive explanation of how the office values properties.
The Legislative Auditor found that the assessor did not reappraise some neighborhoods because the office was not comfortable with the accuracy of the valuations its mass appraisal models produced. Due to time constraints, the assessor did not attempt to solve the valuation or modeling issues, leaving these neighborhoods for revaluation this year.
Publish an annual schedule of the neighborhoods or assessment areas reassessed each year. The assessor tries to revalue approximately one-fourth of the city’s properties each year. According to the assessor, this enables the office to revalue all properties at least once every four years as required by the state constitution. However, the assessor does not disclose which neighborhoods or areas will be reassessed in any given year.
BGR recommends that the assessor make this information public to inform residents about the reassessment process and potential changes to property valuations, assessments and the calculation of property taxes.
Conduct annual studies to check the accuracy of the office’s property valuations and share the findings with the public. Best practices strongly encourage assessors to self-monitor their appraisal performance by conducting ratio studies. These studies, which compare an assessor’s valuations to real estate market data through various statistical calculations, can gauge an assessor’s appraisal accuracy and uniformity, among other things.
The assessor told BGR that the office conducts such studies, but did not provide a full copy of any study from prior years. BGR recommends that the assessor conduct these studies on an annual basis to check the office’s appraisal performance. BGR also recommends that the studies include a sales chasing analysis so the public can see whether the office has stopped using this practice.
Further, to increase transparency, BGR recommends that the assessor share the office’s findings with the public to inform residents and policymakers about the office’s appraisal performance, property valuations and market conditions.
“BGR’s recommendations from Assessing the Assessor offer a roadmap to a fairer and more transparent assessment system this year and beyond.”
Collectively, the weaknesses identified in BGR’s and the Legislative Auditor’s reports highlight fundamental concerns about how the assessor’s office is utilizing its mass appraisal technology. Purchased for $1.2 million more than a decade ago, the technology was intended as an investment in a modernized system that could value property in accordance with appraisal industry standards and best practices. Taxpayer support for the system continues today through technology-related contracts and staff salaries. As such, the assessor’s office should use the technology properly to produce fair and accurate property valuations and show the public the effectiveness of its technology investment.
BGR’s recommendations from Assessing the Assessor offer a roadmap to a fairer and more transparent assessment system this year and beyond. As New Orleans real estate faces an uncertain long-term impact from the public health and economic crises, it is all the more essential for the assessor to have clear, well-supported valuation practices to fairly handle the challenges of future reassessments.
The economic fallout from the ongoing public health crisis has left the City of New Orleans, NOLA Public Schools and other local taxing bodies grappling with significant funding shortfalls. By contrast, the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office anticipates its 2020 tax revenues will increase by $1 million (about 8%) to $13 million. Moreover, the assessor has accumulated $23 million in reserves, which is more than two-and-a-half times the office’s annual operating costs. These sizable reserves are linked to a problematic funding formula that BGR has urged policymakers to reevaluate.
Based on a State-mandated formula unique to Orleans Parish, the assessor’s office receives a fee equal to 2% of the total amount of property taxes billed each year. The fee will generate 96% of the office’s total revenue this year. As the parish tax collector, the City deducts the assessor’s fee, along with its own fee equal to 2% of taxes collected, from tax payments before distributing the net revenue to property tax recipients. The assessor’s fee will reduce this year’s estimated tax receipts for the four largest property tax recipients by the following amounts: the City ($5.6 million), NOLA Public Schools ($3.6 million), the Sewerage & Water Board ($1.3 million) and the Orleans Levee District ($870,000).
BGR has raised concerns about the assessor’s funding mechanism because the fee is not based on the office’s workload or expenditures. Rather, the fee grows along with increases in millage rates and property valuations. For example, a 2.5-mill tax that voters approved a few years ago for fire protection increased the assessor’s funding by about $200,000 per year, even though the office’s workload did not change as a result of the new tax.
Other assessors’ offices in Louisiana are funded either by a dedicated millage or by a legislatively-determined amount paid by all taxing entities on a pro-rata basis. A dedicated millage differs in two key ways from the fixed percentage of billed property taxes that the Orleans assessor receives. First, a millage is subject to rollback requirements when property valuations increase. Second, unlike a fixed percentage, a millage does not generate additional revenue when other entities impose new property taxes. Both characteristics could help control growth in the assessor’s reserves.
Since BGR first flagged the size of the assessor’s reserves in a 2015 report , the reserves have more than doubled as shown in the chart. The pace of growth has accelerated in recent years, with increases of $5 million and $4.5 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Based on information the assessor provided BGR, the office projects minimal growth in reserves this year. This is because the assessor plans to provide the City $3 million toward the purchase of a new revenue collection system. Absent this allocation, the assessor’s reserves would grow by a projected $3 million. The assessor says the new system will not only help the City, but also benefit the office by providing updated information on businesses, personal business property and occupational licenses.
After BGR called for a review of the funding formula, the assessor refunded $2.2 million of the office’s surplus revenue to the City in 2016. The City then distributed the revenue to local property tax recipients on a pro-rata basis. The assessor, however, has not made any refunds since then. Such refunds of excess revenue are at the assessor’s sole discretion. If the assessor refunded the $4.5 million in surplus revenue from 2019, the largest property tax recipients could expect to receive the following amounts: the City ($2 million), NOLA Public Schools ($1.3 million), the Sewerage & Water Board ($450,000) and the Orleans Levee District ($305,000).
Of the office’s $23 million in reserves, the assessor has set aside $10 million for new office space. The assessor says the office has outgrown its space at City Hall. State law requires the City to provide the assessor with a “suitable building.” The assessor says he has requested more office space, but the City has not provided it.
The assessor is in discussions with the judges of Orleans Parish Civil District Court about a joint facility that would also house the Clerk of Civil District Court, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s civil division and the judges, clerk and constable of First City Court. The parties recently began exploring a potential renovation of the City-owned former Veterans Affairs hospital site. The judges do not yet have an estimate of what such a renovation would cost. They also continue to consider renovating their existing courthouse adjacent to City Hall. A 2016 feasibility study estimated this could cost roughly $65 million, although this amount would depend on the ultimate scope of the project.
A fund to build a new courthouse or to renovate an existing site contains about $11.6 million from a special document filing fee collected by the civil clerk’s office. The fee generates about $1.5 million a year. The fund would be in addition to any contribution from the $10 million the assessor has set aside. The judges said they are in discussions with the City to potentially issue bonds to finance a renovation, with the building’s occupants paying off the bonds.
The civil clerk’s office has $25.7 million in reserves, or about 175% of its operating budget. However, the clerk’s budget assigns all of the reserves to various purposes and projects. This includes $17.4 million set aside to cover accrued post-employment benefits, such as pensions and health insurance, in case future revenues are insufficient to cover these costs. The office is not required to maintain these reserves. This is a belt-and-suspenders budgetary approach that few government entities could afford. For example, the City would have to set aside more than $1 billion to cover its accrued post-employment benefits. The clerk’s office told BGR that it is in the process of evaluating the extent of any future contributions that it might make to the courthouse project above the statutorily-required special filing fee. The factors the clerk will consider include, among other things, the cost of the project, the size of the space allocated to the clerk’s office, the level of contributions by other occupants and whether the court entities could relocate to a potential new City Hall.
“The excess funding that the assessor’s office has set aside for new office space is revenue that would otherwise have gone to property tax recipients, many of which are struggling financially.”
The potential renovation is in the early stages and BGR has not taken a position on its merits. However, the problematic funding formula for the assessor’s office raises questions about its participation in the project. The excess funding that the assessor’s office has set aside for new office space is revenue that would otherwise have gone to property tax recipients, many of which are struggling financially. A refund from the assessor’s reserves could help these entities deal with the crisis. Because of this, the assessor should demonstrate that the new office space is a top community priority before participating. If the project does eventually move forward with the assessor’s participation, any contribution by the assessor should take into account the portion of the office space the assessor would utilize. Based on space estimates the judges provided BGR, the assessor’s office would occupy less than 10% of a joint facility.
Going forward, as BGR recommended in Assessing the Assessor, State and local policymakers should review the assessor’s unusual funding mechanism to better align it with the office’s needs. Given the excess revenue generated by the assessor’s fee, such a review is essential to ensure the efficient use of limited public resources. This is particularly important as the City, NOLA Public Schools, the Sewerage & Water Board and other local taxing bodies face revenue shortfalls related to the public health crisis or seek additional revenue to address high-priority needs.
During the 2020 regular legislative session, lawmakers passed two noteworthy bills concerning property assessments and exemptions. One of them, HB 521 , requires the Orleans Parish assessor to notify homestead-exempt property owners by certified mail when a reappraisal increases the property’s assessed value by more than 50%. The notification must be sent at least 15 days prior to the beginning of the period for appealing reassessments.Click below to join our email list to receive this free newsletter and notices of other reports, events and news from the Bureau of Governmental Research.
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Overview In this release, BGR finds inequities in assessors’ disaster-related adjustments to property tax assessments post-Katrina. This is part of a web-based series of reports on the rebuilding of New Orleans following the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Overview In New Orleans, too many property owners pay little or no taxes on their properties; exemptions are granted regardless of need; and, as a result of inconsistent assessments, properties of similar value bear widely different tax burdens. In this report, BGR illustrates the impact of under-assessments and excessive exemptions on local governments and taxpayers […]
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 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 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 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.
Overview This report examines property tax exemptions and assessment administration in Orleans Parish. It provides a breakdown of government, nonprofit, homestead and other exemptions. It further reviews the administration of property tax assessments by New Orleans’ seven assessors. To view sources consulted, click here.
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 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 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 […]
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...
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 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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
Three candidates have lined up to challenge longtime Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams in this fall’s election. Anthony Brown, Carlos J. Hornbrook and Andrew “Low Tax” Gressett each blamed Williams for rising property assessments in the city, which have...
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...
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 (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...
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...
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...
Over the past two years, thousands of homeowners across New Orleans have opened unwelcome letters from the Orleans Parish assessor’s office providing notice of big jumps in the assessed values of their properties and, with that, a sharp increase...
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...
The Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams is responsible for determining the value of your real estate, your home and its improvements, and that creates a little of $600 million in property taxes to help finance the government – but...
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...
NEW ORLEANS – Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams is responsible for determining the value of more than 167,000 properties that are expected to create roughly $650 million in 2020 tax revenue. The office’s “open rolls” period lasts until Aug....
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...
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...
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 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....
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...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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,...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
