Property assessments: Appeal window reopened following notice mix-up

Property owners in Lincoln Parish have a second chance to appeal their 2024 property assessments.

That’s the result of a public notice snafu that prompted the Lincoln Parish Police Jury Tuesday to reschedule the appeal hearing that was supposed to take place that night.

Now the jury, acting as the Board of Review, will consider complaints on property assessments on Oct. 1 before voting on certifying the lists and sending them to the Louisiana Tax Commission.

That reopens the window for any owners who disagree with their property’s latest assessed value to file an appeal by Sept. 23, either by mail or hand delivered to the police jury office on the third floor of the Lincoln Parish Courthouse.

The appeal window was originally late August, and the jury was supposed to rule on those appeals Tuesday. But Assessor Billy McBride’s office failed to publish notices alerting the public to the hearing date in the legally required time frame.

“I’d like to apologize for the miscommunication,” McBride told the jury during Tuesday’s meeting. “I made a boo-boo.”

Informed of the mistake on Monday, Parish Administrator Courtney Hall asked the jury to postpone the hearing.

Therehadalreadybeen some 50 appeals filed the first time around, mostly for commercial property, including Ruston businesses like Northern Louisiana Medical Center, Walgreens and Best Western Plus. That’s significantly more than in a normal year.

Those appeals do not have to be filed again to be included at the rescheduled hearing.

The assessor reevaluates property values across the parish every four years. That assessed value is multiplied by the tax rates passed by various local bodies to determine the final property taxes owed.

Any challenges to those assessed values go to the Board of Review — which, though technically a separate entity, comprises the same 12 members as the police jury.

The board can uphold or alter the assessments before sending them on the state tax commission for certification. Dissatisfied property owners, or the assessor himself, can appeal the board’s ruling to the tax commission.

Once the commission certifies the rolls, tax notices are mailed to property owners, typically in late November.

McBride said the delayed appeal hearing won’t push back the process enough to delay the tax notices.

The delay comes on the heels of a reassessment season in which many property owners reported significant increases in their assessments.

McBride initially attributed those increases to the COVID- 19 pandemic, implying property values hadn’t been refigured since 2016. But many had been in a 2021 partial reassessment.

Even so, the pandemic did spark a jump in housing prices and kicked off a surge in construction costs that has yet to abate — factors that naturally affect property assessments.

A written appeal request must be filed by certified mail or hand delivered at the Lincoln Parish Courthouse at 100 W Texas Ave.

All information concerning the value of the property must also be submitted to the assessor before the Sept. 23 appeal deadline at 307 N Homer St.