§1837. Duties and responsibilities
A. In addition to any duties, powers, or responsibilities otherwise conferred upon the
tax commission, it shall administer and enforce all laws related to the state supervision of
local property tax assessments and the assessment of public service properties.
B.
(1)The tax commission shall measure the level of appraisals or assessments and
the degree of uniformity of assessments for each major class and type of property in each
parish throughout the state. The tax commission shall annually notify in writing the assessor
and each tax recipient body in each parish of the results of their measurements. Following
this notification, a public hearing shall be held to hear any complaints. Thereafter, the tax
commission shall publish annually the results of its m
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§1837. Duties and responsibilities
A. In addition to any duties, powers, or responsibilities otherwise conferred upon the
tax commission, it shall administer and enforce all laws related to the state supervision of
local property tax assessments and the assessment of public service properties.
B.(1) The tax commission shall measure the level of appraisals or assessments and
the degree of uniformity of assessments for each major class and type of property in each
parish throughout the state. The tax commission shall annually notify in writing the assessor
and each tax recipient body in each parish of the results of their measurements. Following
this notification, a public hearing shall be held to hear any complaints. Thereafter, the tax
commission shall publish annually the results of its measurement and shall make such data
available at its principal office. This data shall constitute prima facie evidence of the
uniformity or lack of uniformity with constitutional or statutory requirements for each parish
in the state. Where the appraisal or assessment level of a parish or district deviate by more
than ten percent from the percentage of fair market or use valuation as required by Article
VII, Section 18 of the constitution of Louisiana and the laws of this state affecting property
taxation, the tax commission shall order the assessor, within a period of one year, to
reappraise all property within the parish or district or within one or more property
classifications. The tax commission shall notify the assessor and each tax recipient body
within that parish or district in writing of the issuance of such an order. The tax commission
shall certify the assessment lists for the year in which the order is issued. The following year
the tax commission shall again measure the level of appraisals or assessments for each major
class and type of property in the parish. When the tax commission finds after proper
notification and hearing that the appraisal or assessment levels of a parish or district deviate
by more than ten percent from the percentage of fair market or use value required by the
constitution and laws of the state, the tax commission shall not certify the rolls.
(2) In a year in which the tax commission orders reappraisal of all property within
a parish or district or within one or more property classifications, the commission shall:
(a) Inform the assessor in detail of the exact nature of the discrepancies and
deviations discovered by the tax commission in its measurement of assessment levels.
(b) Establish a schedule for accomplishment of the ordered reappraisal.
(c) Monitor the reappraisal on a weekly basis to ensure that the established schedule
is being met and that there are not substantial deviations and discrepancies in the
reappraisals.
(d) Provide technical assistance to ensure accurate and timely reappraisal.
C. The tax commission shall make the necessary inspections, investigations, and
studies for the adequate administration of its responsibilities pursuant to this Section.
(1) These may be made in cooperation with other state agencies, and, in connection
therewith, the tax commission may utilize reports and data of any state agency.
(2) The tax commission may require individuals, companies, partnerships, and
corporations to make reports to the tax commission giving trial balances, a full and complete
description of all taxable property owned, its cost, its age, the value at which it is carried on
the books, and such other information as the tax commission may require in the form and at
the time to be prescribed by the tax commission. Copies of such reports may be furnished
parish assessors whenever the tax commission deems its useful and necessary. All such
reports shall be considered confidential and shall be used by the tax commission and the
assessors only for the purpose of securing a correct assessment and shall not be subject to
inspection by the public.
(3) The tax commission may also require any person holding office under the
constitution or laws of this state to furnish any information in his or her possession or under
his or her control relating to the existence, location, or value of any property which would
assist or instruct the tax commission or the assessor in locating such property and arriving
at its fair market or use value.
(4) The Louisiana Tax Commission may, in the performance of any duty or exercise
of any power provided in this Section or in Part III of Chapter 2 of Subtitle III of this Title,
send for persons; books and papers; examine records; summon and compel the attendance
of witnesses and place them under oath and examine them; issue subpoenas and subpoenas
duces tecum, if necessary either for a hearing before the Louisiana Tax Commission or in
connection with discovery conducted by any party to an action pending before the Louisiana
Tax Commission; compel the production of records, books and papers, and other information
which the Louisiana Tax Commission may deem necessary; and require the sheriffs of the
various parishes to serve such subpoenas and other processes of the Louisiana Tax
Commission and execute its order, receiving therefor the same compensation as may be
provided by law for similar services under processes issued by the district court, the costs and
expenses of such proceedings to be paid by the Louisiana Tax Commission. In any case
where it shall be answered that books, papers, documents, or other information are not within
the state, and they are not brought within the state to answer the demand of the Louisiana Tax
Commission, then the Louisiana Tax Commission shall proceed by way of injunction, or
other appropriate legal proceedings, to compel the offending delinquent to cease doing
business in the state until the books, papers, documents, or what the Louisiana Tax
Commission shall deem an equivalent, shall be produced, and the granting of such injunction
or other relief shall be the penalty for refusing to comply with the demand. Such proceedings
shall be brought at the domicile of the Louisiana Tax Commission. Any person who disobeys
any order of the Louisiana Tax Commission or fails or refuses to comply with any request
of the Louisiana Tax Commission issued or made under the authority of any Section of this
Part or who disobeys any subpoena duces tecum, or refuses to testify when requested to do
so by the Louisiana Tax Commission, either orally or by the Louisiana Tax Commission,
shall for each offense be fined a sum of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred
dollars, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.
(5) The tax commission shall authorize and direct the collector to correct the
assessment on the roll on file in his office and the recorder of mortgages of the appropriate
parish or parishes to change the inscription of tax mortgages pursuant to R.S. 39:351 and
R.S. 47:1991.
D. In order to promote compliance with the requirements of the constitution and laws
of the state, the tax commission shall issue and, from time to time, may amend or revise rules
and regulations containing minimum standards of assessment and appraisal performance.
Such standards shall include, but shall not be limited to the following:
(1) The tax commission shall devise, prescribe, and require the use of all forms
deemed necessary for the effective administration of the property tax laws.
(2) The tax commission shall prepare, issue, and periodically revise guides for the
use of local assessors in the form of handbooks of rules and regulations, appraisal manuals,
special manuals and studies, cost and price schedules, news and reference bulletins, and
digests of property tax laws suitably annotated.
(3) The tax commission shall develop, maintain, and enforce a uniform statewide
system for the preparation of assessment lists, tax rolls, and all other necessary forms.
E. Whenever an assessor requests the tax commission to provide engineering,
professional, or technical services for the appraisal or reappraisal of properties, the tax
commission may, within its available resources, and in accordance with its determination of
the need therefor, provide such services.
F. The tax commission may conduct or sponsor in-service, pre-entry, and intern
training programs in conjunction with the Louisiana Assessors' Association on the technical,
legal, and administrative aspects of the assessment process. For this purpose it may
cooperate with educational institutions, local, regional, state, or national assessors'
organizations, and with other organizations interested in improving assessment practices.
G.(1) Whenever the tax commission adopts, amends, or revises, rules and
regulations, guidelines, procedures, and forms, it shall do so only after public hearings held
pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.
(2) Each hearing held by the tax commission at which proposed changes to rules and
regulations are discussed, whether or not such hearing is held pursuant to the Administrative
Procedure Act, shall be held at the state capitol. Audio and video of the entirety of each such
hearing shall be broadcast live via the Internet, and the tax commission shall have all such
hearings recorded and shall maintain them for a minimum of three years. The tax
commission shall establish a website to provide the public with information concerning such
hearings, and all hearings recorded pursuant to this Paragraph shall be available to the public
for viewing through a link clearly identified on the website.
(3)(a) Tax commission rulemaking shall be subject to oversight by the Senate
Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of this
Paragraph, the tax commission may use emergency rulemaking procedures when necessary
for effective administration of ad valorem taxes.
(b) The tax commission shall post the current draft of any proposed emergency rule
on the commission's website at least sixty days before the publication of the final version of
the emergency rule in the Louisiana Register and shall provide for the submission of
comments. All comments received within thirty days of the posting of the draft emergency
rule shall be reviewed and considered by the commission. The commission may revise the
draft before the final version of the emergency rule is submitted to the Office of the State
Register. The provisions of this Subparagraph shall not apply to statewide advisories issued
by the commission.