LIVINGSTON PARISH — Property tax assessment reductions totaling 40% from the pandemic and the flood of 2016 are falling off as Livingston Parish enters a reassessment year in 2024.
Livingston Parish Assessor Jeff Taylor says residents can expect a 40% increase in assessed value overall since the deductions are no longer added, but this should not affect taxes.
“The taxes are passed by the individual districts,” Taylor said. “We have 40-something districts in Livingston Parish, and each is tasked with putting their millages on. The people have voted on some of them, and some are government-issued millages.”
Taylor says that after properties are assessed, he sends the values to the legislative auditor, who automatically adjusts the millages so that each district receives the same amount of money it took in the previous year.
“These districts can vote to raise their millages back up to the maximum, or anywhere between the minimum and the maximum,” Taylor said. “It is the districts that are responsible for raising your taxes.”
Taylor hosted a meeting in Walker last week with local districts, during which he advised them to consider adjusting millages since assessment values are going to increase.
“We had fire districts, the sheriff, the library, the school board, the assessor’s office and mayors from different towns came in. We had a good showing,” Taylor said. “Not many are talking about keeping their millages at the adjusted rate. They’re talking about raising back up to the maximum. The library said that they would lower their millages, and the assessor’s office would lower its millages. My office and the library thus far are the only two lowering them.”
The millages are not set so Taylor says there are no exact numbers for residents. An example of what the difference could be is a house that was originally assessed at $200,000 with millages totaling 120 mills would have taxes totaling roughly $1,500.
To calculate this, you take the assessed number and subtract $75,000 for a homestead exemption. You multiply $125,000 by 10% (.10) because residential homes are assessed at 10% of fair market value. Finally, you multiply $12,500 by the mills. If you have 120 mills, you use .120.
If the property was reassessed to $260,000 and the millage stayed the same, the taxes would be $2,220.
Taylor said residents can visit the tax assessor’s website to see their previous assessment values and the millages tied to their properties.
The overall taxable value in Livingston Parish went up from $580 million in 2023 to around $900 million this year.
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