Property values reflect 3-year change, not 8

Although there was no “full blown” property reassessment done in Lincoln Parish in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, adjustments were made in 2021 that changed the assessed value of some taxpayers’ property.

“We looked then, and we decided to change them a little so they wouldn’t go up so dramatically (in 2024),” parish Assessor Billy McBride said.

Had adjustments not been made in 2021, the assessed value increase for some property owners could have been even larger than what they saw on their 2024 tax notices,

Consequently, the increase some property owners have seen this year is really a three-year increase — from 2021 to 2024 — instead of an eight-year difference that was originally implied.

Property assessments figure into how much property tax the owner pays.

Louisiana law requires reassessments to be done at least every four years to determine whether residential and commercial property values have gone up or down. But there are exceptions allowed for emergencies, like the pandemic.

Reassessment happened in 2016.

Property values were already beginning to increase. News stories from 2016 showed some assessments jumped 15% or more since the previous reassessment in 2012. 2020 would have been the next quadrennial reassessment year.

But in March of that year, COVID came to Louisiana and Lincoln Parish. Now-retired Assessor Shelia Bordelon decided not to reassess.

“There was no full-blown reassessment,” McBride said Thursday.

At the time, McBride was a deputy assessor. In October 2019, he was elected to succeed Bordelon. His term would have begun Jan. 1, 2021.

But Bordelon stepped down early, and McBride took office in June 2020.

By then, there wasn’t time to do a complete reassessment and get data ready for the tax notices that typically go out in November, he said.

As it turned out, the 2020 notices were delayed anyway because of actions blamed on the then- parish treasurer.

Then in 2021, Mc-Bride’s office decided to adjust values parishwide, even though there was no formal reassessment.

Adjusting assessments in what would normally be an off year is legal and not rare, Brian Eddington, general counsel for the Louisiana Assessors Association, said.

“That is fairly common, and the goal is to stop sticker shock,” he said.

A random check of local commercial and residential property listed on the assessor’s website shows some property values went up in 2021, some went down, and some were unchanged.

Values appear to have remained the same in 2022 and 2023.

In late July of this year, parish property owners whose holdings increased 15% or more in assessed value began receiving their 2024 assessment notices. Some owners took to social media, saying their assessments had doubled since the last accounting.

Part of the confusion over what happened between 2020, 2021 and now appears to be semantics.

In a regular assessment year — like this year — local bodies that levy property taxes, including the school board, police jury, and municipalities, must, by law, adjust their property tax millages so the rates produce the same revenue as in the prior year.

That happens through a procedure normally called, “roll back, roll forward.” The taxing bodies can raise, or roll forward, the millage back to a legally approved maximum. The last roll-back, roll-forward took place in 2020, McBride said.

Thus, what happened in 2021 wasn’t technically a reassessment, even though some property values changed.

McBride said he was only trying to lessen the jump for property owners on their 2024 reassessments by making the 2021 adjustments.

“I tried to help,” McBride said.

The LAA’s Eddington said Lincoln wasn’t the only parish to forego a complete 2020 reassessment, nor is it the only one seeing sizeable increases in assessed values now.

Several South Louisiana parishes didn’t reassess four years ago because of severe damage from Hurricanes Laura and Zeta, while others cited the pandemic, he said.

“Most parishes have seen massive increases in their assessment,” Eddington said. “That’s been the consistent trend in every parish I’ve talked to.”

What’s driving the residential increases is the jump in housing costs that began during the pandemic. Location and comparative sales are primary factors used in determining an assessment. To some extent, those sales prices are driven by construction costs.

Building costs nationwide are up almost 40% since the pandemic, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Property owners do have recourse. If they disagree with their assessment, they can call the assessor’s office at 251-5140, or go by at 307 North Homer Street by Aug. 29.

If they’re still not satisfied, property owners can appeal to the Board of Review — that’s the Lincoln Parish Police Jury — by Sept. 3.