NEW ORLEANS — On Jan. 9, the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office announced that it has canceled 2,961 homestead exemptions for the 2023 tax year.
The majority of cancellations were because of a change of ownership, but a spokesperson said a “significant number” of removals were the result of investigations by Assessor’s Office staff and leads from various sources, including the New Orleans Office of Inspector General and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
The homestead exemption is a tax exemption from property taxes on the first $75,000 of the value of a property owner’s main residence.
“We would like to thank the OIG, LLA and those individuals who have brought cases of potential homestead exemption fraud to our attention,” said Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams in a press release. “Over the past four years, our efforts have resulted in 3,754 revised real estate tax bills for residential properties. The homestead exemption is a constitutional entitlement, so we have to be very careful and fully research each reported case. We can’t strip someone of a constitutional entitlement on a hunch.”
The Assessor’s Office said that the city’s Vital Records department found 433 instances of a homestead exemption remaining in place after the property owner had died. In 45 instances, property owners had an STR license and/or a homestead exemption in another state
“We’re especially proud of the work we’ve done cracking down on cases of homestead exemption fraud related to an individual’s short-term rental license,” said Williams. “Our own anonymous tip line, in concert with the leads we receive regularly from Safety and Permits, has allowed us to keep a very watchful eye on these properties and move swiftly in instances of suspected fraud.”
Williams encourages people to bring leads to his office’s attention via the Exemption Fraud Hotline at (504) 754-8929.
