STUDENT, SCHOOL AND DISTRICT GAINS RESULT IN ALL-TIME HIGHEST STATE PERFORMANCE SCORE
Almost 80% of Louisiana public schools showed increases; almost 50% met 2009 Growth targets.
Baton Rouge, La. - When Louisiana set its 10-year accountability goal at 100 in 1999, policy makers were unsure about how quickly the state could achieve that goal. In fact, the state had not administered a student assessment prior to setting the goal. The guiding force was the need for the state to improve at a pace that would allow it to move up from its ranking of last or near the bottom in most education measures. Today, a decade later, Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) officials announced the 2009 State Performance Score – a 91.0. While it’s short of the 10-year goal of 100, the score represents a significant gain from the score of 69.4 that was achieved the first year, in 1999, as well as a substantial 4.7 gain from the 2008 score of 86.3.
City Council to Receive Presentation on Tax Appeal Recommendations
At its next regular Council meeting on Tuesday October 20th, the City Council will receive a formal presentation from Frilot, LLC, of recommendations in connection with the 2010 tax appeals for Orleans Parish.
The presentation will specifically provide information on the number of appeals with a break down by type and district, and a summary of the aggregate recommendations by the Board of Review (BOR).
After the presentation, the Council, acting as the Board of Review, will vote on whether or not to approve the recommendations presented by Frilot, LLC.
Decision letters will be mailed to all appellants by October 25th and will contain information about taking further appeals to the Louisiana Tax Commission.
Frilot, LLC has reported a high level of participation from assessors and taxpayers, which has led to an increased number of settlements at tax appeal hearings. Hearings were held on September 30th, October 2nd and October 7th.
Frilot has handled approximately 6,000 tax appeals over the last three years for the BOR - approximately 5,400 appeals for tax year 2008, 450 appeals for tax year 2009 and 200 for tax year 2010.
This is the last BOR tax appeal year before the city changes to a single assessor next year.
New Hotel in Algiers
Developers are poised to purchase a derelict property on Gen. de Gaulle Drive and build an extended-stay hotel, a restaurant and office space. Demolition of the buildings in the 3000 block of Gen. DeGaulle is expected to begin by September. A four-story, 124-room Value Place hotel, estimated to cost $7.5 million, will take its place. The new hotel is scheduled to open by May.
Abandoned Pools
Abandoned pools are a serious health threat, especially for the children of New Orleans. The City’s enforcement agencies have been prosecuting abandoned pools since Hurricane Katrina. However, for the first time Code Enforcement is initiating a comprehensive campaign to address all abandoned pools in the City. Seven of the pools that have gone to hearings are located on the West Bank of District C. If you know of more blighted pools, please call it in to the 311 hotline for a reference number and follow-up with
our office as well. For a list of the abandoned pools identified, Click here for more information.
