Rollback millages, not values

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Columnist

Sticker shock greeted many Orleans homeowners back in July when letters from Parish Assessor Erroll Williams indicated sharp increases in their property value. The jump amounted to more than 23 percent across the board, threatening to send general parish property taxes skyrocketing. That has led many housing advocates and residents to demand that City Council members reject the city tax assessor’s quadrennial re-assessment of residential properties rather than certify the ballooned rates for 2024.

Such an action would be – at best – illegal under Louisiana state law; however, it would also be unwise. Were all departments of city and parish government to roll back millage rates proportional to the increases, the general Orleans Parish property tax rate would decrease by more than 20 mills, not only rendering the city more competitive with Jefferson and other surrounding suburban parishes’ lower tax rates, but also reducing the percentage tax burden on most homeowners as a result.
While the City Council has made the resolution (so far) to keep millage rates rolled back, too many autonomous agencies from the School Board to the Sewerage & Water board have indicated a desire to roll forward millages, therefore collecting a property tax increase without ever seeking a public vote. Louisiana state law demands that parishes roll back millages when property values increase. However, no public elections are required to roll them forward to their previous rate, only a “board supermajority,” an undemocratic dodge too often undertaken. Such a stealth tax increase may serve the interest of timid politicians and even fund reasonable infrastructural improvements. Nevertheless, the general public should have the right to vote on these proposals first – as many of them risk losing their homes to spiraling property tax rates as a result.

Historic African-American neighborhoods have seen home property values increase from 80,000 to 800,000 inside of two and a half decades. Without a corresponding decrease in property tax rates, many on a fixed income will see their homes become too highly taxed to afford. The irony is that the solution is simple. All the local politicians have to do to make this lower tax rate come about is to do nothing.

When Shaun Rafferty and his “IQ” ticket first advocated a single assessor in the 2006 elections, one of the great desires was to create a fair system which would lower tax rates for everyone. For too long, wealthy and politically connected homeowners had managed to win unjustifiable lower valuations, thereby placing the tax burden on those without the money and resources to purchase “a better deal.” Rejecting the 2024 assessments simply threatens re-create such a corrupt system.

Instead, rising assessment rates next year could open the pathway to lower the general Orleans property tax rate, making small business rents and first-time homeownership more competitive. Instead, too many of our local politicians see the promise of a great pay day over the needs of the city’s poorest residents. It’s far easier for them to blame the assessor, than to actually try to live within their means.

This article originally published in the October 30, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.