NEW ORLEANS — From the Bureau of Governmental Research:
Property taxes are a basic means of financing local government, but the public faces a confusing array of tax rates, taxing bodies and dedicated purposes across the New Orleans region. To help explain these taxes, the Bureau of Governmental Research today launched an interactive, online tool. BGR’s property tax dashboards for Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes are a one-stop resource for answering the most common property tax questions:
- What is my total rate?
- Where does the money go?
- How does a home’s value change its tax bill?
- Who sets the rate and levies each tax?
- How have rates changed over time?
Explore the dashboards by visiting https://www.bgr.org/property-tax- dashboards. The website is easy to use – select a parish and then click on a map of a taxing area, such as Algiers, River Ridge or City of Mandeville. The dashboard for that area will display in a new tab in your browser. The dashboards are best viewed on a desktop or laptop screen, but you can also view them on a mobile device. The website includes a video tutorial on how to get the most out of using the dashboards. BGR has also paired the dashboards with an online guide to the basic nuts and bolts of property taxes.
BGR’s dashboards present information about property taxes never before found in one place, promoting greater transparency and accountability. BGR is releasing these tax dashboards as residents of Jefferson and St. Tammany recently paid their property taxes and residents of Orleans Parish will pay theirs this month.
The property tax dashboards complement BGR’s research on local government. BGR is the go-to resource for voters in the metro New Orleans area to inform their decisions on significant local tax propositions. BGR provides voters with independent, nonpartisan analysis of these proposals. BGR highlights their strengths and weaknesses and assesses whether they are likely to lead to effective outcomes for the public. The tax dashboards provide broader context for the individual propositions BGR analyzes. They also contribute to our extensive body of research on local public finance, which helps citizens to understand where their money goes and how taxes and spending fit with public needs and priorities.
The dashboards can help residents, property owners and public officials gain insight into a complex system of taxation. For example, more than 90% of property taxes in each parish are dedicated to specific purposes. In addition, the total tax rate varies across each parish, depending on the mix of parishwide and district taxes for your area. BGR created dashboards for three distinct taxing areas in Orleans Parish, 13 in Jefferson, and 34 in St. Tammany.
“Our goal is to help the public get a better grasp of the property taxes they pay,” said Rebecca Mowbray, BGR’s president and CEO. “Voters typically approve or renew property taxes one at a time, over decades, which can make it difficult to see the big picture. BGR’s property tax dashboards bring that picture into focus for greater transparency and accountability.”
The property tax dashboards provide two sets of simple, interactive charts for each geographic taxing area in Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Tammany parishes.
The first set of charts presents information on the key details of property taxes for the most recent tax year (2023 in Jefferson and St. Tammany and 2024 in Orleans). They break down taxes by purpose and taxing body – the government entity that levies the tax and sets its rate. In addition, the dashboard details each individual tax, including the ballot question approved by voters and the tax expiration date. BGR has also embedded links for quick access to any available “On the Ballot” report that we published to provide voters with an analysis of the tax in advance of that election.
Users can also estimate the tax bill for a wide range of home values. Users can select a home value from $100,000 to $1 million (in $100,000 increments) and quickly estimate the tax amount. This can provide a ballpark estimate for current or prospective homeowners interested in what their tax bills might be in different areas of each parish.
The second set of charts offers historical data that users can tailor to their needs. This includes the 10-year trend in their total property tax rate and charts showing rate changes by purpose and taxing body.
“BGR is committed to supporting informed public policy decisions and the effective use of tax dollars,” Mowbray said. “This new resource advances that mission by helping residents and property owners better understand their property taxes and where they go.”
BGR plans to update the property tax dashboards annually to provide the latest levied rates and details of taxes on the most recent bills.
