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The Ouachita Parish Assessor’s Office is the tax assessor for Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. The Ouachita Parish Assessor is responsible for assessing the value of real property located within Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, for the purposes of taxing that property. The Ouachita Parish Assessor does not set tax rates, but simply assesses property values. The current Ouachita Parish Assessor is Stephanie Smith.
Ouachita Parish is a large Parish located in Louisiana and is considered part of the Monroe Louisiana Statistical Area. At the 2010 Census, the population of Ouachita Parish was 153,720. The Parish seat of Ouachita Parish is Monroe. Ouachita Parish contains the Ouachita River. In fact, of the parish’s 632 square miles, 21 square miles of it is water. Ouachita Parish contains the cities or towns of: Monroe, West Monroe, Richwood, Sterlington, Bawcomville, Brownsville, Calhoun, Clairborne, Lakeshore, and Swartz. If you have questions about whether your property is located in Ouachita Parish and do not see the name of your city, town, or township on this list, you can contact the assessor for more information.
In Louisiana, the Parish Assessor performs several tax and revenue related functions. The Louisiana Constitution requires the Assessor to list and value all property subject to ad valorem taxation on an assessment roll each year. The ad valorem qualification is important, because it means that property values are not assessed at fair market value, but at a percentage of fair market value. This percentage varies with the type of property. Land, whether held for personal or business use, is assessed at 10% of its fair market value or use value. Residential improvements, which include homes, outbuildings, and improvements like fences or swimming pools, are also assessed at 10% of their fair market value. However, commercial property, including personal property (but not land) is assessed at 15% of fair market value.
The Assessor is not responsible for raising or lowering taxes. In fact, the Assessor has no legislative powers. The Louisiana Constitution provides the framework for taxation in Louisiana and taxes, themselves, are voted on by the Louisiana Legislature. The Louisiana Tax Commission sets the rules and regulations for levying taxes. Taxes, themselves, are levied by taxing bodies approved under the law, which can include bodies like the school board, and police jury. The Tax Assessor is not responsible for collecting taxes; the Sheriff’s Office is the Ex-Officio Tax Collector.
The Assessor also maintains cadastral (ownership) maps for all parcels of land in the parish, as well as legal descriptions of the land. The Assessor works with municipalities to prepare their own tax rolls.
Although the Ouachita Parish Assessor does not use fair market values for assessments, the fair market value is critical in determining assessed value. In order to assess property values, the Ouachita Parish Assessor looks at recent sales of comparable properties to establish fair market value of real property in the area. To determine the fair market value, the assessor looks at what willing sellers and willing buyers are doing in the marketplace (foreclosures or short sales usually render artificially low prices that do not reflect fair market value). The assessor has to look at construction costs, zoning changes, financing, and other economic conditions that can impact property values. The assessor may look at any one of three nationally recognized approaches to value: cost, income, and market. This value can vary in different locations in the parish because of things like neighborhood, nearness to amenities, and other factors that can influence price. Then, the assessor uses a pre-determined percentage of market value to determine the tax assessment value. As described above, land, whether held for personal or business use, is assessed at 10% of its fair market value or use value. Residential improvements are also assessed at 10% of their fair market value. Non-land commercial property, including personal property, is assessed at 15% of fair market value.
The tax rate for parish taxes is based on the millage rate. The millage rate, which is determined by the public, is levied by all the taxing agencies in the district, city, parish or state serviced by that taxing body. To determine the taxes on your property, you take the assessed value, which is a percentage of fair market value, and multiply that by the millage rate. However, homestead exemption amounts are deducted from the assessed value, not the fair market value. Homestead exemptions are not applicable for all types of taxes, but can make a tremendous difference in the amount owed for those taxes for which they do apply.
In Louisiana, the Parish Assessor is an elected position. Parish Assessors are elected for four-year terms, during the same years as the gubernatorial elections, and may be re-elected. Stephanie Smith is the current Parish Assessor for Ouachita Parish. For more information about tax assessors in Louisiana, you can visit the Louisiana Assessor’s Association.
You can reach the Ouachita Parish Assessor during business hours, which are Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm CST:
Ouachita Parish Assessor’s Office
Ouachita Parish Courthouse
300 Saint John Street
Monroe, LA 71201
PO Box 1127
Monroe, LA 71210
Email: steph@opassessor.com
Phone: 318-327-1300
Website
Stephanie Smith is the current Ouachita Parish Assessor. She is an elected official serving a four-year term. Ouachita Parish is a large parish in the Monroe metro area. In this role, she uses comparable market values to assess the value of real property in Ouachita Parish for the purposes of taxation, not only for the county, but for any property-related taxes, though different millage rates may apply.