The Lafayette Parish Assessor is responsible for identifying, locating, and fairly valuing all property, both real and personal, within the parish. The "market" value of real property is based on the current real estate market. Determining a fair and equitable value is the primary role of our office in the taxing process. To arrive at the "market" value of your property, our office staff evaluates various factors about your property and reviews sales of other similar properties in the parish.
The assessor does not create the fair market value. This value is established through the buying and selling of real estate in the market place. The assessor has the responsibility to study those transactions and assess your property accordingly.
The assessor also tracks ownership changes; maintains maps of parcel boundaries; keeps descriptions of buildings and property characteristics; accepts and approves applications from individuals and businesses eligible for exemptions and other forms of property tax relief; and analyzes trends in property sales prices, construction costs, and rents to arrive at the fair market value.
We have implemented a state-of-the-art computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) program. This system provides our office the tools needed to more efficiently and effectively arrive at the fair market value of properties.
In addition, we now have a Geographic Information System (GIS) parcel base map to provide detailed and up-to-date property ownership maps. This information is used for field inspections, to analyze property data and give our staff another tool for comparing similar properties.
Assessors are mandated by state law to reassess property at least every four years. However, individual property values may be adjusted yearly in light of sales activity or other factors affecting real estate values. Sales of similar properties provide an indicator of values in the real estate market.
Two other methods are used to appraise property - the cost approach and the income approach. The cost approach is based on how much it would cost today to build an almost identical structure on the property. If your structure is not new, the assessor must determine how much value the building has lost over time. The assessor must also arrive at a value for the land itself - without buildings or any improvements.
The income approach is the third way to evaluate property - usually commercial property. It requires a study of how much revenue your property would produce if it were rented as an apartment house, a store, an office building and so on. The appraiser should consider operating expenses, insurance, maintenance costs, and the return or profit most people would expect on your kind of property.
