Bureau Of Governmental Research Inc

Programs: Monitoring and reporting on local government issues: in 2017, bgr published a total of 15 reports and releases on topics including: beneath the surface: a primer on stormwater fees in new orleans; paying for streets: options for funding road maintenance in new orleans; a practical guide to pension reform in jefferson, orleans and st. Tammany parishes; 2017 candidate q&a election series; as well as various ballot propositions in jefferson, orleans and st. Tammany parishes; and an open letter to the louisiana legislature on nonprofit property tax exemptions. Bgr's research staff monitored 70 state and local government agencies, including the new orleans city council and its committees, the jefferson parish council, the st. Tammany parish council, and the jefferson, orleans and (continued on schedule o) st. Tammany parish school boards. Once the research is complete, bgr pursues the implementation of recommendations, sometimes over the course of many years. In 2017, bgr continued assessing its effectiveness with a review of major research areas during the past decade. The review found that bgr's recommendations were implemented to some degree in 13 issue areas, with significant or full implementation in most cases. Additional indicators of bgr's impact include news articles and reports specifically mentioning bgr; news articles and reports on a topic that has been brought to the public's attention by bgr; hits to a report on bgr's website; and requests to speak or comment on a subject. In 2017, bgr was mentioned 67 times in the press. For the 11th year in a row, bgr was recognized in 2017 by its national peers. The governmental research association awarded bgr outstanding policy achievement award for discovering the costly misinterpretation of the benefit formula for the new orleans firefighters pension fund, which ultimately led to a 2016 court ruling correcting a misapplied pension benefit calculation formula for city firefighters. Projected savings are expected to exceed $1 million per year over the course of the next few decades. The second award - most distinguished research award - was given to bgr for its 2017 report "beneath the surface: a primer on stormwater fees in new orleans," which explores a funding mechanism that is expanding in usage nationwide as an alternative to ad valorem property taxes. The research also includes the first comprehensive snapshot of the new orleans' projected drainage system costs. The population served by this work includes jefferson, orleans, and st. Tammany parishes. Based on 2017 us census data, the potential reach of bgr's monitoring and reporting is the approximately 1,134,857 regional population.

continued on schedule o: breakfast briefings: bgr's breakfast briefings are public forums where citizens can hear from experts and decision-makers on major public policy issues. In 2017, bgr presented four breakfast briefings. They included mayor landrieu's 2017 legislative agenda and outlook; brandy christian, president and ceo of the port of new orleans, discussing latest developments and future plans at the port; kevin dolliole, director of aviation at louis armstrong new orleans international airport, discussing the development of the airport's new terminal facility, growth trends, local economic impact, and evolving role as a global connector; and johnny bradberry, the governor's executive assistant for coastal activities and chairman of louisiana's coastal protection and (continued on schedule o) restoration authority, jointly with mark davis, senior research fellow and director of the institute on water resources law and policy director of the tulane university bywater institute discussing the 2017 coastal master plan with an emphasis on jefferson, orleans, and st. Tammany parishes. This series built upon bgr's core work of monitoring and reporting, while engaging approximately 150-200 citizens at each event. The breakfast briefing series brings pressing issues directly to the citizens of the greater new orleans area and allows them to engage with leaders and decision-makers. Bgr increases access to the events by video recording the presentations and posting them online following each breakfast briefing. These events attract media coverage, further increasing the platform and public awareness of the issues discussed and of bgr's work.