Bureau of Governmental Research Inc

What it reported doing in 2025

Monitoring and reporting on local government issues: in 2025 bgr reported on many complex issues in local governance in 12 reports. Among the highlights: in 2025, bgr published 2 "on the ballot" reports to inform voters about important local propositions. These reports analyzed a $510 million capital bond authorization for new orleans, and a proposed amendment to the new orleans city charter related to the city attorney. Voters agreed with bgr's position for the bond authorization amendment and the city charter amendment. In december, bgr published a major report which presented several ways the new orleans ernest n. Morial convention center could restructure the public subsidies for its convention headquarters hotel project to save substantial tax dollars without jeopardizing the (cont'd on sch o) hotel project. In august, bgr published candidate q&as for the mayor, city council, and sheriff elections. This dashboard provided voters with an easy to navigate webpage that shared candidate answers to a bgr survey about key issues in the november elections. In 2025, bgr research staff monitored more than 70 state and local government agencies throughout the new orleans area, including the new orleans city council and its committees. Bgr also tracked the Louisiana legislature and any bills that were of particular importance to the local community.after research is completed, bgr pursues proper implementation of their recommendations, sometimes over the course of many years. This is done through a series of follow-up publications and outreach to citizens groups, the media, decision-makers, and other key stakeholders in relevant policy areas. In terms of effectiveness, bgr has had successful positions on ballot results 78% of the time since 2014another measure of bgr's impact is its presence in the media and level of engagement with their content. In 2025, the news media cited bgr reports more than 100 times. For its work, bgr has received many awards and recognitions from the governmental research association. In 2025 bgr won the best short form writing for our 2025 report on the orleans parish sheriff after the recent jailbreak, the outstanding policy achievement award for our effort to encourage the city of new orleans to meet the criteria for issuing $468 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds as opposed to taxable bonds, which carry higher interest rates. This will save property taxpayers an estimated $88.5 million over the bonds' 30-year lifespan, and the most effective education award for our "fair share" report follow-up that informed the public about the implementation and outcomes of tourism taxes to maintain streets, drainage and other infrastructure in new orleans.bgr's work serves citizens across many localities including jefferson, orleans, and st. Tammany parishes. Based on 2020 u.s. Census data, the potential reach of bgr's monitoring and reporting is approximately 1 million people.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 53.2%; rating input score 53
• Program expense ratio: 60.9%; rating input score 61
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 22.8%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.16; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 30.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings