The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would give voters the opportunity to decide whether parishes should have the option to increase the homestead exemption from $7,500 to $12,500 in assessed value. The vote was 9-5. The bill’s author, New Orleans Democrat Matthew Willard, says since the homestead exemption has not increased since 1980, people are getting priced out of their homes.
“When they start to factor in how much their monthly payment is going to be, including insurance and payments toward their property taxes, it’s not affordable,” Willard said.
Willard says if people can’t afford their homes, they’ll move to a state where they can, and Louisiana cannot afford that.
“The homeowners are the people in this state that we cannot afford to lose. They have a vested interest in the success of the state, the success of their neighborhoods, their communities. They have their roots down,” Willard said.
Jim Patterson with the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry spoke out against Willard’s bill. He says if you increase the homestead exemption to lower property taxes, the government will need to make up that tax revenue somehow.
“If it’s adopted at the now local option level, because of the millage roll-up, there’s going to be a shifting of taxes to others,” Patterson warned.
Patterson says Louisiana already generates a disproportionately low amount of property tax revenue relative to other states.
“Property taxes generate 73% of local tax revenue nationwide. You know how much the state of Louisiana generates by way of tax revenue? 44%,” Patterson said.
The bill now advances to the House Civil Law for a review of the ballot language. Because this would be a constitutional amendment, it will need to pass in both houses of legislature by a two-thirds majority before it goes to the voters.
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