BREC is hosting a series of events it dubs “Movers & Shakers ‒– Decision Makers” in various locations around the city as it campaigns for a tax renewal on the November ballot.
The agency hired former Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker’s The W Consulting Group to manage the events, which allow attendees to hear BREC’s next 10-year plan for the East Baton Rouge park system and get updates on current and future projects that BREC is working on.
BREC’s Partnerships division has a $15,000 contract with The W Consulting Group this year to assist with community engagement efforts. BREC COO Andrea Roberts says the event series is being outsourced because the division is new and understaffed.
Wicker tells Daily Report more Movers & Shakers events are planned over the weeks leading up to the November election. The events are sponsored by Guaranty Bank, which funds cash prizes ranging from $25 to $100 for trivia winners.
The events come less than two months before the public will decide whether to renew two millages that help keep Baton Rouge’s park system afloat and on the heels of the first audit released of BREC in nearly three years. The independent auditor described three instances of misappropriation of BREC funds for the 2021 fiscal year.
BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson told the Metro Council last month that BREC’s 2022 financial records have been submitted to auditors, and their review is underway. As soon as that one is complete, records for the 2023 audit are ready to be evaluated.
Wilson also presented the Imagine Your Parks 3 plan, which will be funded by one of the ballot items in November.
The millages on the ballot are 6.2 mills for capital improvements, renewed every 10 years and 3.523 mills for the Imagine Your Parks tax, which started in 2004 and is renewed every 20 years. The two millages equate to about 65% of BREC’s budget. The total millage for BREC is 14.463 mills, bringing in $78 million.
