How the 2016 Flood Will Impact Your Taxes

Like many of you, the team at Broussard Poché, LLP has been impacted by the recent and devastating floods. Our financial experts want to make sure you have a handle on how this event could affect your taxes for next year.

Property taxes in Louisiana are based on the status and condition of the taxable property on January 1st of each year. In parishes affected by the Floods of 2016, this could result in individuals paying property taxes on home and business property and equipment based on the condition of the property prior to the floods.

Fortunately, Louisiana offers assistance. The assistance requires assessors to modify the assessment of properties that have been damaged or destroyed or deemed non-operational or uninhabitable due to an emergency declared by the Governor. On August 12, 2016, Governor Edwards declared the flooding as an emergency.

Parishes that have been declared as federal disaster areas include but are not limited to Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermillion. For your convenience, we have contacted these parishes and have listed their contact information and the steps to initiate the process for modifying your assessment.

PARISH	Contact Address	Contact Number	Procedure
Acadia	Acadia Parish Police Jury 505 NE Court Circle Crowley, LA 70526	337-788-8800	Call the Police Jury as early as possible and provide your address and phone number, whether you own or rent the assessed property, whether or not you have insurance coverage, number of inches of flooding you received.   Effected individuals will be contacted at a later date.
Evangeline	Evangeline Parish Assessor 200 Court Street Suite 103 Ville Platte, LA 70586	337-363-4310	Call your parish assessor as early as possible and provide your name and address, provide photos of damages and the FEMA form if you filed it. Effected individuals will be contacted at a later date.
Iberia	Iberia Parish Assessor 121 W. Pershing Street Suite 100 New Iberia, LA 70560	337-369-4415	The assessor’s office is requesting that individuals wait until mid-November when they receive their tax notice. At that time, the effected individuals should call the assessor within thirty days to request their property to be re-assessed. Please maintain proof of your damages.
Lafayette	Lafayette Parish Assessor 1010 Lafayette Street Suite 402 Lafayette, LA 70501	337-291-7086	Visit your assessor’s office as early as possible and provide them with a copy of the form that you filed with FEMA.
St. Landry	St. Landry Parish Assessor 118 S. Court Street Room 230 Opelousas, LA 70570	337-942-3166	Visit your assessor’s office as early as possible and provide them with pictures of your damages. The office will then schedule a site-visit to determine the re-assessed value.
St. Martin	St. Martin Parish Assessor St. Martin Parish Courthouse 415 St. Martin Street St. Martinville, LA 70582	337-394-2208	Visit your assessor’s office as early as possible and provide them with pictures of your damages. The office will then schedule a site-visit to determine the re-assessed value.
Vermillion	Vermillion Parish Assessor Courthouse Building 100 N. State Street Suite 110 Abbeville, La 70510	337-893-2837	Call your assessor’s office as early as possible and provide them with the number of inches of flooding you received. Please maintain proof of your damages. The office may schedule a site-visit to determine the re-assessed value.

If you need any help getting your taxes back on track for your home or business, call the experts at Broussard Poché, LLP.