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 of New Orleans?
(2) Is the proposed privatization the best way for the S&WB to meet its financial challenges and improve services?
OVERVIEW 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 […]
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 […]
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.
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
